


Star-Crossed Danger

by Silverwolf666



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Bottom Armitage Hux, Bottom Rey, Daddy Kink, Dubious Consent, F/M, Han Solo Lives, He Looks After Rey, Kind of Sugar Daddy Hux, Kylo Ren Has Issues, M/M, Multi, Older Man/Younger Woman, Possible Kink, Some dub con between Finn and Poe, Tentacles, Threesome - F/M/M, Top Kylo Ren, Transformation, Underage Rey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2018-12-11 15:39:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 54,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11717376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverwolf666/pseuds/Silverwolf666
Summary: Before he was a general, Hux was a captain with big dreams, who found a little Scavenger on Jakku and saw her potential. He goes on to shape her into his Force Sensitive Bodyguard, doing his best to keep her hidden from Snoke, and the two trust no one more than each other. When Hux has the chance to jump to general, will he be able to keep her hidden from Kylo Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke? Will Kylo Ren doom them both? Or is he what they need to reach their dreams?





	1. The Captain and the Scavenger

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I am doing this; I have only seen bits and pieces of the movie (not as good as New Hope or Revenge of the Sith), but I love reading this Fandom's fiction and I can't get this idea to leave me alone. Anyways, this is purely for enjoyment so leave the destruction and tantrums to Kylo, OK? As for the underage warning, I see Rey as the kind of person that goes with the flow, and more than a touch naive, so if her guardian thinks the two of them should have sex, well, he did save her from Jakku, so why not?

****Chapter 1** **

 

 

Captain Hux looked at the scrawny girl that had saved the lives of three of his Stormtroopers, as well as giving him an excellent excuse to get rid of a useless ‘Trooper that did not deserve his title of captain. The means in which she had saved his men was also the reason that she was here, resting in his quarters after being checked out by medical and deemed healthy enough, though she would have to be on a high protein and high-calorie intake diet as she was severely underweight for an approximate thirteen-year-old girl. She had been given basic inoculations to stave off simple illnesses but her weight would have to come up before she was given the inoculations for the heavier diseases as the droid explained that some were rough on the body and she would need all the strength she could get to make it through.

 

 

Back to the matter at hand though, was the fact that this girl who was barely a teenager, was Force-Sensitive, and quite possibly the answer he had been looking for. Captains do not get their own ships in the First Order, but majors did, and so Hux was doing all that he could to reach that rank so as to get away from General Salas; a man who hated Commandant Hux and believed that Captain Hux only received his own position due to his father’s influence. Therefore, the man came up with thousands of meaningless tasks for him to complete and often found __something__  to criticize him about concerning everything from his work ethic to his uniform.

 

 

But with this girl, he may have the short-term solution to his problem concerning Salas, as well as the long-term solution towards his end goal. Oh, he not only planned to be the youngest General of the First Order, and he wasn’t stopping at Admiral; he planned to reach right to the top and become Emperor, a goal that seemed far more realistic if he could train this girl to be his future bodyguard. Not only that, but he had plans for a creation that would make everyone forget about The Death Stars and Alderran, but he found there simply were not enough hours in between his duties, resting and trying to get every imperfection out of his uniform for the day; an extra set of hands to help him would be invaluable. His eyes caught her movement as she came around.

 

 

“Wh- where am I?” The girl asked in a weak voice, no doubt she was going to love the pitcher of water Hux had set up.

 

 

“You are in my quarters on the __Argonaut__ , you are safe here and I am Captain Armitage Hux of the First Order.” The girl looked at him and he saw fear enter her eyes for a moment.

 

 

“What am I doing here?”

 

 

“After your display of power, I wanted to talk to you, but you seemed to believe that I was going to hurt you so made to run; two of my ‘Troopers fired, one trying to kill you and the other stunned you so you would drop and miss the deadly bolt.” The girl’s eyes widened at this.

 

 

“Why was one of your men trying to kill me after I saved them?!” Hux sighed as he thought about how to answer. In truth, he knew exactly what he wanted to say but he had to have this girl firmly on his side.

 

 

“I thought he was one of mine when in truth a man higher in rank ordered him to keep watch over me and report anything suspicious.”

 

 

“But why fire at me? How am I susc- suspic- whatever you said?” Hux made a mental note to have a service droid help her learn basic things, such as reading and writing.

 

 

“Before we continue, I have given you my name, but you have not told me yours,” Hux asked as he poured a glass of water, watching her from the corner of his eye and indeed, she looked like she desperately wanted to ask for even a sip.

 

 

“My name is Rey.” The girl answered and Hux responded by giving her the whole glass.

 

 

“Drink it slowly Rey; dehydration is terrible, but bloating is hardly enjoyable either. Now, the man he reported to is a general who loves degrading me and is making it nearly impossible for me to get a promotion so I can get away from him. You see, I am twenty-six years old, and it is almost unheard of for someone of my age to have achieved my rank, and it most certainly is unheard of to make major before thirty, but I have plans to do it. But he gives me the excuse that I need higher efficiency ratings before I can be promoted, so that gave me the idea that if I could get them high enough, High Command itself would promote me, and then I would have my own ship and continue from there, away from this man who is holding me back.”

 

 

“It’s not major that you want,” Rey said quietly as she looked at him.

 

 

“What?”

 

 

“It’s not major you want; you want a black uniform that fits you so well, you know you would be perfect for it because you have seen others like Salas wear it and they don’t deserve it, but you do. But it’s not there that you wish to stay, or even above that, where the whole of the Imperial Navy would answer to you and you alone. You see yourself in a white robe with a flowing white cape with a gold circlet around your head and everyone bowing down to you.” Hux was a little surprised and made a mental note that he should work on building his shields with her around to help keep Snoke out.

 

 

“If you can see all of that, can you see my plans for you?” Hux asked as he took the glass back and refilled it, this time accompanied by some fruit, which she looked at oddly before picking one up and taking a small bite out of it.

 

 

“I know it has something to do with keeping me with you, in which case I have to decline and ask to be returned to Jakku.” This surprised Hux; who in their right minds would want to __remain__  on Jakku?

 

 

“Why? You haven't even heard the proposition.”

 

 

“It's my family, they left me there on Jakku and they said they would come back for me." Hux had a feeling he knew where this was going but had to ask,

 

 

“When did they leave you there? And who did they leave you with?”

 

 

“They left me with Unkar Plutt and I think I was about four years old at the time.” Hux thought carefully about his response; if he worded this the wrong way, she would close herself off and try to escape, but if he worded it the right way, she may become more attached.

 

 

“Rey, a lot can happen in almost ten years; Jakku is just one planet in one galaxy in a much larger universe. It’s possible that in an effort to keep you safe for whatever reason, they put you on the nearest planet available, never checking what planet it was and believe me when I say that even with hyperdrive, it would take __years__  to go from planet to planet, from galaxy to galaxy, trying to find one person. And then, you must consider the darker options, that they may no longer be on this plane of existence, or that you were taken from them to be protected.”

 

 

“Like what you wish your mother had done for you? Take you away from your father before he could start?” Hux flinched but held fast.

 

 

“Yes, like that; anyone can be a parent, but that doesn’t mean that everybody __should__  be a parent. Rey, do you __really__  want to spend every day of your life, hoping that today will be the day when they come back for you? What if they don’t, and you wake up one morning, starving because your old bones just can’t pick through the ruins like they used to, and realize that you spent your whole life waiting for the past to come find you, only to have wasted your present and your future? What if they do, and you find out that they are the sort of people that don’t deserve to exist, but you feel like you should care because they are your __family__? You have lost almost ten years of your life to ‘what could be’, and ‘what should have been’ Rey, don’t lose any more years.” Rey was looking down into her cup, now empty, and Hux could see from the shake of her shoulders that she was trying not to cry.

 

 

“And just what are __you__  are offering that’s so great? A life as a faceless Stormtrooper? Or maybe you want to see me as some sort of trusted Lieutenant?”

 

 

“You would hold no official title or rank; you would help me with some of my simpler duties, make sure my boots are polished, my uniform pressed, duty logs filled out and filed. In return, you get three meals a day, no restriction on water in any sense of the word, and you shall be given various lessons.” Rey thought about it; some might be insulted that she would be an attendant, but it would beat having to risk her life hoping that her scavenged goods would be enough for a full portion or two, but,

 

 

“So, I would be… a sort of pet?”

 

 

“More like, you take care of me, and I take care of you kind of deal, and once I am made major and get my own ship, I know a few people who could help you develop your other… gifts.”

 

 

“You mean The Force?”

 

 

“Oh good, I was worried I would have to explain that part to you, which I can only imagine how that would go as I personally don’t put much stock into it. But how do you know about it?” Hux asked and saw the girl look around.

 

 

“When I was brought on board, did you bring my pack?” Now, for the first time, Rey appeared worried, making Hux wonder if he should have checked the bag first, but relented and drew the bag up from under his bed, along with her bo staff, which was obviously much too large for her.

 

 

“If you are insistent on using a bo staff, then I will see about getting you a training model better suited for your size, and when you are older, and hopefully a bit bigger, you can use this again,” Hux explained as he handed over the pack. She grabbed the pack and drew out truly valuable items that others had tried to take from her, but they always found their way back to her. One was a staff that was shorter than her bo staff, but still quite large for her stature. And the others appeared to be Holocrons of different design. He watched as she opened the cube first.

 

 

“I found a few of these, mostly the triangular prism ones, though a few of these cubed ones too,” Rey explained as the Holocron came to life and the image of a tall man with long hair and a beard flickered to life.

 

 

“My name is Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and if you have managed to open this Holocron, then that means that you young padawan are Force-Sensitive and what that means is that you are able to tap into the very life energy that is all around us. The Force allows many gifts to be used, but not everyone can access them all, but you mustn't be discouraged; you will find your gifts within the Force, and they shall be what the Force wishes them to be.” Before he could continue, Rey closed the Holocron.

 

 

“He goes on to explain the Force in greater detail as well as his ideas behind the living Force.”

 

 

“Are all of your Jedi holocrons of Qui-Gon Jinn?”

 

 

“No, one or two of them are a Master called Mace Windu, and from him, I practice saber techniques with bits of scrap metal; if nothing else, the others started losing the fights over what I scavenged.” Rey had a smirk on her face, which, though Hux mirrored it as he had done similar things once he learned how to fight with his stature, he silently promised to make sure it didn’t happen again.

 

 

“That’s good; Mace Windu was reportedly one of the best swordmasters and strongest warriors of the Jedi Council before it collapsed, whereas Qui-Gon Jinn was not only powerful but wise.” Rey nodded as she then opened one of the Sith holocrons, and this time, a man seemingly out of a nightmare emerged; as if his glowing yellow eyes were not frightening enough, his red and black tattoos combined with his horns certainly completed the demonic visage.

 

 

“I am Darth Maul, apprentice to Darth Sidious, and you should know that only someone with access to the Dark Side of the Force could open this Holocron. If you can access this Holocron, you should already know what the Force is, but you are tired of the Jedi crippling you, so I shall show you how to truly fight.” Again Rey closed this Holocron before too much could be said or shown.

 

 

“I truly admire his skill with the saberstaff, but I’m not sure if it would be right for me as a saberstaff is not truly like a bo staff, still, it’s an option if I am ever able to make a saber.” Hux nodded as she looked for her favourite Holocron.

 

 

“I am sure that we shall be able to acquire a kyber crystal for your blade when you feel ready to make one.” Rey smiled gratefully, then opened her favourite Holocron and the quiet of the room was broken by mechanical breathing.

 

 

“I am Darth Vader, apprentice to Emperor Palpatine, slayer of the Jedi, and of Anakin Skywalker. You should know that my Holocrons are specially designed so that only the truly powerful could open them. You may have heard that the Dark Side of the Force was evil but this is a Jedi lie; the Jedi expect all knowledge to come to them instead of physically seeking it out. They would order you to put aside emotions like love and anger in order to be one with the Force; this is an abomination of life. It is natural to feel fear in dire circumstances, it is normal for two people to fall in love, and it is righteous to give in to your anger and strike down those who have hurt you. The Jedi believe they are above the laws that keep our world in check, and yet they strike down those who would see true unity and peace reign supreme. I shall teach you the true power of the Dark Side, so that whoever you are and wherever you may go, you shall know that our fear makes us quick, our anger makes us powerful and it is our hunger that shall make others fear you! Always remember the Sith code; ****Peace is a lie, there is only passion/ Through Passion, We gain strength/ Through strength, We gain power/ Through power, We gain victory/ Through victory, our chains are broken/ The Force shall free us.**** ” Rey actually chanted along near the end and Hux was relieved that his hopeful bodyguard was not of the Jedi mindset; that was the last thing he needed.

 

 

“So, you feel the Sith way is better suited to you?” Hux asked, but Rey had a contemplative look on her face.

 

 

“I think I lay somewhere between Darth Vader and Qui-Gon Jinn; the Jedi preached that emotions were bad, but how can you fight longer and harder, if you do not fear death even a little? How can you fight for something if you don’t have passion and conviction for your cause? In the desert, you don’t really get the luxury of a moral compass, because it might just get you killed. But the Sith believe that there is no cost too great in order to achieve their goals, and there must be limits to everything, even chaos. I’ve killed to survive, but I really believe that I could not kill just anyone for the sake of killing. So, I don’t side with the Jedi and their somewhat pompous attitudes, but I don’t side with the Sith either as I am not as bloodthirsty.” Hux became contemplative, she may be even better for him than he previously thought; dictators often get overthrown, but someone who is seen as being firm but fair, well, the people all but beg them to stay in power.

 

 

“I remember hearing old stories concerning the Grey Jedi; individuals who could use both Light and Dark techniques of the Force, and they __were__  Jedi in a sense, but they often disagreed with the Jedi council’s decisions, something Qui-Gon Jinn did frequently, which may be why you have an easier time listening to him than Mace Windu, a true Jedi master. Perhaps that’s what you are; neither dark nor light.”

 

 

“How did you know I prefer Jinn over Windu?” Rey asked, curious.

 

 

“I assumed as such when you played his Holocron instead of Windu; Windu became a well known general during the Clone Wars, whereas Jinn has almost faded into obscurity.” Rey shrugged then looked at him.

 

 

“Do you still think I could be useful to you as a Grey Jedi and not as a Sith?”

 

 

“I think you have become even more valuable than when I first saw you; I’m looking for a potential bodyguard, not a mindless weapon like what Snoke is breeding with his Knights of Ren.”

 

 

“Knights of… what? And some of the techniques of the Force are too dangerous to learn on my own, and even Darth Maul suggested I get a physical teacher for the more advanced techniques of the Force, as they would be able to physically help me.”

 

 

“There are a few Force-users left from the age of the Empire who could help you; one, in particular, would be very helpful indeed, as he was not only a Dark Jedi, but his father also knew Darth Vader and was said to be something of an adviser for him when he chose to listen, and his son learned from him. Naturally, I can’t call upon him until I make major and get us away from Salas, who would see you taken away from me, but you and I shall do what we can until then. And as for the Knight’s of Ren, I wouldn’t worry about them too much, we seldom ever deal with them as is, but I will explain later on.” Rey looked at him and Hux decided to show her everything he had planned, and she watched as she transformed from the little desert rat she was into a deadly and beautiful woman. Any who threatened Hux she would cut them down with her saber, any who spoke ill of her would be cut down by his sharp wit and even sharper tongue. Finally, she saw her saber thrust into a man who looked ancient and evil, and she was there for his coronation as he became Emperor Hux, and still, she was there with him, always guarding him, and him, always protecting her.

 

 

“Mental abilities were a safer thing to practice on my own as the only damage would have been to myself, but I have also seen you worry about Snot-”

 

 

“Snoke.” Hux couldn’t help but laugh as she butchered the name of one of the most powerful people in the universe.

 

 

“Whatever, so I will go over the Holocrons and see if Jinn or Windu make any mention of exercises we can try for Force-null minds.”

 

 

“Does this mean you have agreed to my proposition then?” Rey gave a little snort as she looked at the man who was, for now, her keeper, but would eventually become her charge when she was old enough and skilled enough.

 

 

“Don’t forget, I saw into your mind; you are so determined to get your way, I probably wouldn’t get a moment’s peace until I agreed. Though I have to ask, what happens if I don’t complete a task to satisfaction?” Rey sounded genuinely worried, and Hux could understand as she glanced at the water jug.

 

 

“I will not deny you food or water, as that would be detrimental to your health, nor would I abuse you by striking you or setting impossible goals for you to fulfill. The punishment shall always fit the offense, whatever it may be; if my uniform is not satisfactory, you shall write fifty lines detailing why it was not and what you shall do in the future to rectify it. If you speak of me disrespectfully in front of other officers or reveal private things that could potentially humiliate me, you too shall be humiliated as I shall spank you, a punishment for an unruly child. Do you understand and agree to this?” Hux asked and Rey thought about it; he was much more accommodating than Unkar Plutt had ever been. In a sense she was a pet, but she wasn’t so prideful that she would turn away from an offer of food and water, and he did have a point about her family; maybe they just didn’t want her, but the fact of the matter was that Hux __did__  want her and he promised to look after her without coddling her like a useless pet.

 

 

“I understand and agree.” Hux had eyes like ice to contrast his fiery hair and a smile fit to scare a bantha, but Rey could honestly say that stupid though it may be, she felt safe with him. After that, Hux showed her around his quarters (he felt he would never forget her delight when he told her that when it came to water, they had more than they needed so, if, after her morning chores, she wanted to take an hour long shower, she was welcome to do it) as well as giving her a run down of how he wanted things done. He showed her how to polish his boots, how to press his uniform, and how to use the droids to bring food to them.

 

 

It was a rough couple of first days as he himself had become so critical, he saw every flaw Rey made. When he noted them, Rey would flinch as though she expected to be hit, but he knew from past experience that would only make her resent him as he resented his father. So he laid a hand on her shoulder, told her how to correct the oversight, fixed it himself, and had her teacher droid help her writing skills by enacting her punishment. Each night he would look at the barely legible writing, and critique that, though Rey noticed as her writing and work improved, she found little treats for her; the first time she managed to get his uniform so perfect even Salas couldn’t find anything wrong with it, she found clothes made up for her that was meant for the ‘free time’ that would soon be rewarded after her studies were caught up. When she managed to get to the educational point that most people were at her age, she got at least two hours of said free time, but she also had to physically train with the Stormtroopers.

 

 

For the first couple months, she would return to their shared quarters black and blue from having her ass handed to her, and she spent the majority of her free time under the hot shower spray, trying to ease her tired muscles so she could read comfortably. One of Hux’s most trusted Stormtroopers PSA-1078, or as the other Troopers referred to her, Phasma, was her instructor who would point out everything she did wrong and the occasional things she did right. Though Rey quickly learned that if there was one thing Phasma hated, it wasn’t that you made excuses, as she saw the other Trooper instructors get mad at, it was when you, for lack of a better word, bashed yourself. She had made the mistake of saying that no one would ever exactly tremble in their boots at the sight of her; the diet and vitamins had helped her gain weight and all, but she was still short and even if she did get a growth spurt, it would have to be one hell of one before she was as intimidating as Phasma. Phasma had chastised her, saying that if she wanted her enemies to quake before her, she had to show them what she was, and that came from what she was capable of, not her height, and then Rey had the longest day yet, as Phasma pushed her to the edge of her limits, then promptly threw her over them. When Hux found out why his ward was so thoroughly exhausted, he added to her exhaustion by having her get up early the next day, perform her duties, and then during her lessons, she wrote out ‘ _ _I Must Not Think Poorly of Myself or Others Shall Think the Same and I Will Never Get Anywhere__ ’ and unlike the other times when she had a set number to do, this time she literally wrote that phrase until her lesson time was up.

 

 

About a week later, she was focused heavily on learning how to use a Vibroblade and shield with some of the other Troopers when Hux came in. No one noticed him, remarkably, but he noticed the Troopers she was training with were some of those loyal to him.

 

 

“Some of the other Troopers, particularly the ones loyal to Salas, are rather brutal with her when training, and since it would be easy to stage an accident with the blades, I managed to get her placed with some of __our__  Troopers. There was one I thought was going to tear her arm out of its socket before I pulled him off, she must have a remarkably high pain tolerance; barely whimpered, even when I popped the arm back into place.” Phasma explained in lieu of greeting.

 

 

“Good, Salas is already watching me, not only due to Rey’s presence but because of what happened with GM-3864, I don’t need it for you or myself mysteriously shooting someone out of an airlock,” Hux responded as he watched his ward; she focused more heavily on defense than offense, though one or two of the Troopers seemed to be encouraging her to go on the offensive.

 

 

“What makes you think __I__ would have shot him out of the airlock?” Phasma asked in a dispassionate tone.

 

 

“Please Lieutenant, if you had not of become emotionally invested in her, you would never have scolded her as you did. You would have simply told her to grow up, accept things, and then sent her on her way after having her tire herself out. You not only scolded her, you found her limits and promptly threw her headfirst over them; you only do that to those with potential.” Hux had only really known Phasma for a few months, but he had seen the pattern in those few months.

 

 

“And you __haven’t__  become emotionally invested?”

 

 

“I never said such a thing; I found a little desert rat that is becoming something more; once she caught up with those of her knowledge level, she actually appears rather intelligent; hardly a genius but she works hard for the knowledge she wants and I would rather have a hard working intellect than a lazy genius. Which brings me to one of the reasons I’m here.”

 

 

“Oh?”

 

 

“Yes, I want to know how she’s coming along, really.” Phasma knew what Hux wanted so wasted no time in replying.

 

 

“She is much stronger than she looks and the fighting style she has best taken to is Corellian Judo; the other day, I saw her sling a man twice her size over her shoulder and sent him flying to the other side of the room. What she desperately needs to work on is her blaster work; as it stands she can barely hit the broadside of a barn, let alone a would-be assassin. I understand as a Force user she’ll most likely primarily use a lightsaber or even that bo staff of hers, but she still has to be able to use a blaster if the thing is taken from her or damaged. When I manage to find us a private area to train, away Salas’ fools, we trick the cameras into thinking she is sparing with us, when she is actually lifting objects with that Force of hers. Though you really have to get promoted soon; someone almost saw her yesterday, thankfully one of our Troopers saw __him__  and distracted him.”

 

 

“Which brings us to my second reason for being here. She won’t be training with you tomorrow.” __This__  got Phasma’s attention and she finally turned to look at him.

 

 

“Why not, sir?” Hux didn’t need to see Phasma’s face to see he had shocked her, and not pleasantly; no doubt she thought he was going to have Rey do ridiculous chores instead of her advancing her body.

 

 

“The day after tomorrow I am to appear before High Command; my efficiency has apparently shot up and they would like to discuss my ‘options’. So I need Rey to not only take care of her usual duties but go over the members of high command and see who could be allies and who could cause problems. I am also going to take this chance to begin discussions on the weapon we’ve been designing.”

 

 

“Starkiller?”

 

 

“Exactly.” Hux was about to go into it further when he heard Rey scream, causing he and Phasma to turn sharply, to see one of the Troopers lying dead on top of her, with a smoking hole on his back. Hux quickly turned and saw who had fired and saw the Trooper trying to sneak away. Before he could order him to halt, he heard another Trooper call out,

 

 

“Get him Slip!” The Trooper attacker was then tackled by another Trooper who ran remarkably fast; faster than most Troopers he ever seen run. That would account for the name ‘Slip’. He then saw that Rey was now being shielded by the Trooper who had presumably called out, though she kept trying to come out from behind him to face her attacker.

 

 

“What happened? What is your designation?” Hux barked as ‘Slip’ brought the attacker forward and then forced him down to his knees.

 

 

“TR-8439 sir and my gun misfired -”

 

 

“Like frack it did! Will you please stop squirming?” The Trooper shielding Rey barked, then whispered the next part to Rey. 

 

“And what is your designation? Why do you feel TR-8439 is lying?”

 

 

“I am FN-2187 sir, and Slip, I mean FN-2003, that is to say, we were allowed a small break so we were talking and making sure-” Here, FN-2187 trailed off but Hux persisted,

 

 

“Making sure of __what__?”

 

 

“Making sure Rey didn’t get hurt; RJ-4072 was always great with a Vibroblade, but he was also known for throwing his weight around and would sometimes come down harder than he had intended. We worried if he brought his weight down before she could bring her shield up, then she could get seriously hurt.” FN-2187 had trouble looking at Hux and near the end, he was looking down at the ground, though for once Hux wasn’t overly concerned as he focused more on the revelation that some of the new recruits actually felt protective of Rey; he hadn’t thought that would happen so soon.

 

 

“Stand up straight ‘87, and look Captain Hux in the eye when speaking to him.” Phasma barked though she didn’t seem as harsh as normal, another favorite?

 

 

“Yes ma’am, sorry ma’am, sorry sir. Anyhow, we were watching the proceedings when FN-2003 noticed one of the TR’s had his blaster shouldered even though their blaster training wasn’t for another twenty minutes. Before we could ask him what he was doing, he fired but the gun made no sound as the plasma bolt shot out; at the time Rey had her back to him but then RJ turned sharply, trying to make her lose her shield, and he lost his life.” ‘87 finished and Hux had a pretty good idea just what was going on, though sadly he had no proof, especially as TR-8439 shouted,

 

 

“That’s a lie!”

 

 

“No, it’s not! Tell them what we overheard ‘87!” The one called Slip encouraged and Hux could see these two were overdue for re-conditioning, but he was willing to overlook it for now.

 

 

“Let’s take this somewhere private. The rest of you, take care of RJ-4072 and then resume training.” Phasma kept Rey close to her as she lead the group to an office where they could all talk, Slip and ‘87 keeping a tight hold on TR-8439.

 

 

“Now, what did the two of you overhear that makes you believe TR-8439 is lying? Also, Phasma, ‘87, and Slip, the three of you may remove your helmets during this nonofficial inquiry.” Hux asked as Rey shut the door, and he had to withhold his smirk as she set up a camera for them to use as possible evidence. He then watched as the three removed their helmets; Phasma was a cold beauty that no doubt would make men both drool and think twice about approaching her. Slip was somewhat plain looking with pale skin, short brown hair and dark eyes, though in the right light he could almost be seen as cute. ‘87 was actually a rather handsome man with chocolate skin, dark, regulation length hair and warm brown eyes. Judging by Rey’s subtle intake of breath she had never seen ‘87 without his helmet and she liked what she saw; Hux wasn’t sure why he was now regretting letting his ‘Troopers take their helmets off but he now had a strange feeling in his chest.

 

 

“We were just coming back from lunch sir when we saw ‘39 there talking with General Salas.” Slip answered.

 

 

“There’s nothing wrong with that! He was commending me for my efficiency!” Phasma smacked the idiot to be quiet.

 

 

“Anyways, we heard him saying he didn’t like, pardon the terms sir, your ‘pet rat’ making you look so good that High Command itself was going to promote you from captain to major, especially because he knew that after you got over this milestone, making General would be nothing. Making matters worse for General Salas is that if High Command takes a real good at your records, sir, they’ll find that you should have been promoted to major months before Rey became your ward.” Hux heard Rey growl at being called a ‘pet rat’, but a look silenced her; she just had to put up with it for at least 48 hours more and any who called her that on his ship would be in a world of pain and humiliation.

 

 

“I see.” This time, ‘87 spoke up,

 

 

“It actually gets worse sir; what not many knows, is that if it can be proven that someone deliberately held back another officer from getting promoted due to selfish means, thus potentially holding back the advancement of the First Order, the officer in question can be brought before and dealt with by - _ _gulp__ \- Supreme Leader Snoke.” This shocked Hux though he didn’t outwardly show it; even he hadn’t known that law, or its consequence. He supposed this was the universe’s way of telling him there was a God, or at the very least, Karma.

 

 

“So why the attempt on Rey? She has already brought my efficiency up, bringing me to the attention of High Command; killing her wouldn’t change that.”

 

 

“Most likely, he believes that if Rey was killed, you would be so affected by her death, you would miss the meeting, thus ruining your chances for advancement,” Phasma suggested, only for Rey to scoff,

 

 

“Hux may like me, but the only reason he would be affected by my death is that he would have to train a new potential bodyguard.” Again, Hux felt a strange feeling in his chest at the thought of him only caring for Rey in such a disposable fashion. In the beginning, he admittedly wanted her for her power, but after being together for a few months he felt that they were close, maybe even friendly with each other.

 

 

“Sir, what would like done with this information?” Phasma asked, there were a few things to be done with this information, but seeing Hux’s eyes told her what route he would take, and she couldn’t blame him.

 

 

**_**_Two Days Later_ ** _ **

 

 

“I will grant you his ratings are high, but he is simply too young for the responsibilities required of someone running their own ship.” Salas had been arguing the fact of Hux’s age for almost twenty minutes after the other Generals had gone over his recent reports.

 

 

“And there is the fact that his scores didn’t reach this point until he acquired his… assistant.” General Babak, an old friend of Salas’, pointed out, though many could hear how he wanted to say ‘pet’ or ‘slave’ among other less savory terms. The sneer he gave at the sight of Rey, dressed impeccably in a First Order uniform, tailored for her shorter frame, standing at parade rest behind Hux, was a very big clue.

 

 

“Perhaps, General Babak, you didn’t look at Captain Hux’s records from before he acquired his __in-training bodyguard__ , which clearly shows he should have made Major before he found her, meaning that all the youngling has done is boost the Captain’s reports to the point that we of High Command have had no choice but to take notice.” General Maboo, a woman who had fought hard for every salute given to her in this patriarchal society, argued, especially when Babak tried to insult Hux’s little protege. She knew that these two had many hurdles to overcome; Hux was a bastard from a man who truly thought he was better than everyone else and the girl was an orphan from Jakku of all places, and whilst she was hardly going to give them a free pass on up, whenever she felt that opportunity was about to come knocking, she would make sure they were home.

 

 

“Let us also not forget that Anakin Skywalker was made a General during the Separatist Wars before he was even 25, and many feared him even more than they feared his then master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. He had not even reached 30 when he became Darth Vader, a name that still inspires terror in people today. No Salas, I think it is poor taste to keep trying to justify you holding this young man back simply because of his age.” General Karnak, a general who had been little more than a child barely into his teens when the Empire fell, and one of the Force-Sensitives who was not part of the Knights of Ren, making him a potential candidate for Rey’s teacher, spoke up.

 

 

“We are not talking about a Force user, we are talking about Captain Hux, and I resent the insinuation that I held the boy back; I honestly thought there was more he could benefit learning from me.”

 

 

“And yet you refer to him as a boy, when the __man’s__  intelligence, cunning, and other skills have all proven that he should have made major months ago; if you had honestly thought there was more to teach him you could have made a small proviso to his promotion that he stay with you for a few additional months and you would put him through drills that would prepare him for command. All you have taught the young captain is how to be a hard-ass; useful for a general but hardly pertinent for a major. He and his little bodyguard meanwhile have come up with designs for a new class of Destroyer that could revolutionize the fleet, as well as hinting to a weapon that could make the Death Stars look like a potato gun. Look, we’ve been hashing and re-hashing the same points over and over, let’s just vote on the damn issue and get back to our other, more important, duties.” General Selek, Karnak’s older cousin as well as former master, suggested and the others all nodded. They each stood and went into an anti-chamber that was located off to the side, none noticing when young General Drake, son of the same General Drake who had often traveled with Darth Vader, manage to slip behind Selek and take something from Rey. The voting seemed to be taking forever. Rey couldn’t be certain they weren’t being covertly watched so she leaned ever so slightly to the side, having her elbow touching Hux’s upper arm; to a casual observer, it was a silent show of reassurance, for Rey, talking mind-to-mind was simpler with bodily contact.

 

 

/ _ _I thought this part was supposed to be a simple in-and-out process?/__

__

__

/ _ _It is dearest, but Salas is going to be trying everything in his power to get them to vote in his favor. Don’t forget, if it can be proven that he deliberately held me back, he faces Snoke, and very few would come out of such a confrontation alive.__ / Hux reassured as they came back in, Babak looking angry and Salas pale.

 

 

“Captain Hux, please stand.” General Du’lock, the highest general of High Command, adviser to Admiral Rajack, making him third only to Supreme Leader Snoke, spoke, and Hux was quick to obey.

 

 

“Captain Hux, all evidence has been taken into careful consideration and-” Du’lock was interrupted as all of a sudden a holo started up, and there was Salas talking with TR-8439, right in the middle of the floor.

 

 

“That little upstart and his slut think they can upstage me after all the work I put in to make general? Well, they have another thing coming; when the desert rat is training with Hux’s pet Stormtroopers, I want for you to arrange an accident. As I understand it, PSA-1078 is going to be training her to use a Vibroblade tomorrow; I’ll do my best to get you in the training regimen, but if not, look for an opening and use it. Either Hux will be upset over the loss of his bed-warmer, or he will be his usual cold, dispassionate self, and I can probably use that; after all, if he doesn’t show emotion at the loss of his whore, why would he care about his men?”

 

 

“Sir, with all due respect, why not just let Captain Hux get promoted and leave? Then he would be unable to interfere here.”

 

 

“Because, you idiot, if High Command looks closely into his records, they’ll see that the boy should actually be up for Lt. Colonel, not major, and that boy has too big of an ego already; top scores at the academy, valedictorian and he even had the gall to beat my son at the sniper tournament. No, my son will make major first, then I will think of letting Hux advance, with the knowledge that my son will always be one step ahead of him.” Here the holo ended, and Salas was no longer pale, he was furious red.

 

 

“For the record, Salas, I highly doubt that your son will ever make major, let alone general, as General Ta’kar can attest to; he’s not exactly lazy but the boy seems to have no drive to go very far. If we had to wait for your son to become major before we were allowed to see Hux here, I fear he would be a decrepit old man. But I’m sure Supreme Leader Snoke would __love__  to hear about how you potentially held back the First Order so that your son could get ahead.” General Drake spoke as he lazed about in his chair before summoning a couple guards to… detain General Salas as Babak spoke up,

 

 

“But surely-”

 

 

“Do you wish to join Salas in lock-up? No? Then zip your howling screamer.” General Selek snapped; he truly had more important things to do than waste any more time here on a clear-cut issue. General Du’lock simply resumed his speech as though the interruption never happened,

 

 

“We have seen the evidence and those who speak for the betterment of the First Order have agreed that you shall not be promoted to major, but shall instead be promoted to Lt. Colonel, as well as given a choice between some of our better ships. You shall not be considered for a Destroyer class ship until you at least reach the rank of Brigadier General, though going by your scores, that shall not be long in coming. Now, a proviso of becoming Lt. Colonel at such a young age, is that at least one of the Generals here at high command must accompany you to help you adjust to your new role. Generals Sukar, De’ham, Drake and Karnak have all volunteered for the role, do you have a preference?” It took all Hux had not to react to the news he had been bumped ahead __two__  ranks, though Rey could not contain her

 

 

“Wow. Oops, sorry sirs, ma’am.”

 

 

“Quite alright child, it is an unusual step but one we believe to be necessary. I imagine you shall learn to be a bit better at guarding your emotions in the future.” General Maboo informed the girl.

 

 

“Yes, ma’am.” Hux was actually grateful for her slip-up as it gave him time to think on how to word his reply.

 

 

“Generals of High Command, I thank you most graciously for my promotion and ask that I be allowed to learn from both General Drake and General Karnak. General Karnak is unparalleled when it comes to efficiency and General Drake is well known for producing top-fighters for the First Order.” The Generals talked for a few minutes before nodding their agreement. Karnak himself was a recently appointed general and so he had no ship of his own nor did he want one as he preferred being a mentor, and Drake had many apprentices (not the Force variety) that could take over his physical combat lessons. The other generals left as Karnak and Drake both walked over to Hux and Rey, who lead the way back to their shared quarters. Drake looked around the former captain’s quarters and asked,

 

 

“Where does my future apprentice sleep?” Rey nodded to a soft, squishy matte that had been rolled up and put to the side.

 

 

“Right, well, Hux, I suggest that we look for ships that would allow the girl to have an actual bed to sleep on. I won’t have my apprentice sacrificing a day’s effort because she slept in a draft or something.” Karnak however, had a different complaint.

 

 

“What makes you think she’ll be your apprentice Drake?” Here, Drake scoffed, ignoring Hux who was looking at Rey as she blushed; she had never had someone fight over her before; fight for her salvaged goods, yes, her, no.

 

 

“Oh please, you may be good at the mental hocus pocus, but even I can tell that the girl is more gifted in the physical side of the Force. You have yet to beat me in a saber battle.”

 

 

“There is a time for brute force and a time for mental prowess, not that I expect __you__  to understand that; you charge in guns blazing to every situation!” Before Drake could rise to Karnak’s bait, Hux spoke up,

 

 

“Actually, I was hoping you could both train her; we have been doing our best to help her develop her skills, but some techniques are too dangerous to try without a teacher and obviously she couldn’t be exposed to Snoke otherwise he would take her and turn her into a Knight of Ren.” Karnak again spoke up.

 

 

“Which will be one of the first things __I__  shall be teaching her; masking her Force signature. You have been remarkably lucky he has not felt her, as he is still gaining his own power, but make no mistake, one her powers start developing, if she doesn’t mask it, he will feel her and it will be devastating. He allows my cousin and I free reign because we are no threat to him in any sense; I can feel Rey’s power because I am so close, but I can also say she is going to get stronger.”

 

 

“I have a few kyber crystals with me, and we’ll try a few sabers to find out your style; my father was known as the Scavenger General as after he and Vader executed Order 66, he had a habit of collecting fallen Jedi’s lightsabers, so we have a few different styles to choose from. For now, I have the list of the ships available to us, I suggest we go through them and pick a ship that would benefit us all.” Drake then pulled out his datapad and brought up the ships, the four talking about each one’s strengths and weaknesses until they settled on one that would serve them well until Hux’s dream ship, __The Finalizer__ , was ready for them.

 

Until __The Finalizer__  was built, and Hux was chosen to command her, he would be in charge of __The__   _ _Endeavor__.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux has his own ship but that doesn't mean he has no worries. FN-2187 is in danger, how will Rey respond? And how will Hux react to this response?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t believe it… PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE THIS?! Hell, I wrote this because I like the contrast of passionate Rey and icy Hux but so few focus on them, instead focusing on Kylo/Rey. So, I thought about how the two could in any way actually get along, and this came to mind, though after I finished that first chapter, I debated for almost an hour about actually posting the damn thing.
> 
> Disclaimer: If I owned this, do you really think I would have killed off Han Solo of all people?

****Chapter 2** **

 

Lt. Colonel Hux had been in charge of **_**_The Endeavor_**_**  for a little over three months and he could not have been happier; he and Rey had selected almost every member of their new crew and everyone was proving to be the best possible choice. Oh, some had been obvious, such as the newly promoted Captain Phasma, and the two Troopers who had looked after Rey so well, but there were others like a Dopheld Mitaka who, though a little meek, was invaluable as a communications officer as well as code-breaker. Hux had been a little skeptical about the man, even if he was from the Arkanis Academy, but Rey had said that she could tell he was a good fit for their crew; after all, not many thought much of Hux or Rey when they first saw them, now did they?

 

Speaking of Rey, she just came into his office, looking a little worn out, with some noticeable burn marks on her clothing.

 

“How did it go?” Hux asked as he looked over reports, including Phasma’s on Slip and ‘87; both had potential, but ‘87 was the one she believed could become a captain in his own right if he could only mute his empathy.

 

“I feel like a human ash tray.” Rey moaned as she laid on his couch and he fought the smile that wanted to creep out; there was a bit of difference between a Vibroblade and a lightsaber, and Rey was surely learning it.

 

“That bad with the saberstaff, huh?” Hux asked, interested.

 

“As I said when we first met, the saberstaff may look like a Bo staff, but it does not move like one. Of course, Drake is still insisting that I practice with the one I found, seeing as how of all ‘sabers I could have found, I just so happen to find bloody Darth Maul’s saber, the Universe’s cockroach according to Drake, so I must be meant to wield it.” That had been quite the revelation when Drake and Karnak had examined Rey’s treasured holocrons and found that Rey had actually recovered Maul’s lightsaber.

 

“How do you fair with the other styles?” Hux asked as he finished a report from a petty officer, Unima? Unamo? Something like that.

 

“Well, Karnak says that I train alright with the standard blade, but the two are determined I have a different kind of saber to ‘throw my enemies off balance.’ After Skywalker’s new Jedi Order was wiped out, I would think that any new potential Jedi would be a trifle young to go against me.”

 

“Don’t get cocky; the Jedi Order was almost completely wiped out by their own clone army with nothing more than blasters, the same could happen to you.” Hux reprimanded and Rey sighed.

 

“Sorry if that’s what it sounded like; I’m just exhausted from Drake’s training, not only do I have to block his saber attacks with the saberstaff, I have to keep full control of the weapon or the damn thing burns me.”

 

“I imagine you’ll only be all the stronger for it; according to history, when Darth Maul took on Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi with it, he managed to overwhelm Jinn and almost destroyed Kenobi. Now, how are the other styles?” Hux asked, trying to take Rey’s mind off of her injuries.

 

“Well, the curved hilt sabers are good in battle as they fit better in your palm, which allows you greater control, but I can’t seem to get the hang of that one either; Karnak thinks it’s because I’m so used to fighting with weapons that have a straight handle like the Vibroblade and the Bo staff. The shoto saber is smaller so it seems less effective, but the obvious advantages are they are easier to carry and conceal, the smaller hilt is smaller to hit and thus destroy, and some see it as a good parry weapon as, whilst your opponent is focusing on the big blade, they are not looking at your other hand going for the smaller saber to puncture their gut with.

 

Then there’s the lightwhip; the one thing those two agree on is that it’s a bad choice for the beginner seeing as how it’s difficult to defend with them. You have to be extremely talented in order to wield it to its full potential, otherwise you’ll lop your own appendages off. Karnak’s lightsaber, the tonfa-style, is better for defense, but if he can manage to wear Drake down, then he shows off how versatile his weapon of choice is. Drake doesn’t have any but he knows how to make a wrist hilt, which, though slightly less powerful as it would have a much smaller crystal, are easy to conceal and easy to whip out at a moments notice. Finally, you have the lightsaber lance, or pike, which is sort of a combination saber and Bo staff, with a handle as long as the wielder’s body, giving said wielder a greater reach but if not properly insulated, your opponent does have a larger target to aim at, destroying your saber and leaving you potentially helpless.”

 

“How long until you have your training with Karnak?”

 

“I have an hour for lunch and then I’m to report to him to work on my force abilities. So I ordered a droid to bring our lunch here, seeing as how I know you haven’t eaten yet either.”

 

“Anything in particular pop out yet?” Hux asked as said droid arrived, beeping hello to both of them. He knew he should technically be angry at her almost forcing him to eat, but then again, this was her job.

 

“Nothing overly; as a scavenger, I intrinsically used enhanced Force Senses to try and find what would give me the best portions. From the Dark Side, he says I seem to be rather good at Force Fear, which allows me to pump such fear into my opponent that they cannot move. I can also use Force Slow which clouds the mind of my opponents and they literally slow down mentally and physically, though he says that could quickly evolve to Force Affliction, which acts more like a poison. From the Light Side, I am getting better at using the ‘Jedi Mind Trick’ and he’s trying to teach me healing. It’s slow going because there are dozens upon dozens of different kinds of Force abilities, and we have to carefully examine each ability, test it, then either disregard it as I have no talent such as Crucitorn, an ability that allows the user to manipulate pain in either themselves or others, or log it for later to be developed such as the Protection Bubble, exactly as it sounds. Though during the testing phase yesterday, Karnak did note three abilities I could very well have talent in.” Rey explained as they ate. Once Hux was full on what he wanted to eat, he merely pushed the rest of the food towards Rey. She had argued against it in the beginning, but he ate the items there were particularly high in protein, therefore filling up quickly, and her eating the other items made sure no food was wasted, something she considered a rather grave sin.

 

“Oh yes?” Hux asked as he again picked up a datapad.

 

“Yes, I apparently tested very high in Plant Surge, Electric Judgment which is a sort of Light Side version of Force Lightning, and Combustion.” This caused Hux to look up at her and reply,

 

“Wonderful, you can make our vegetation attack us, electrocute people, and you can cause explosions on my ship, potentially setting us all on fire. You couldn’t have tested high on that bubble thing or healing, could you?” Hux was only partly serious, as he knew Rey could control herself fairly well, though there were times when she seemed to get frustrated rather quickly. Seeing her quiet down instead of snarking back had him looking closely at her.

 

“Is something else the matter?”

 

“Armitage…” Now Hux was not only listening but he was deeply concerned; even after their months together, Rey called him Hux and only for extreme matters did she call him ‘Armitage’.

 

“The day after tomorrow, Slip and ‘87 are to take their final simulations in order to become fully active Stormtroopers.”

 

“Really? I hadn’t realized that day was upon us so soon.” Hux had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going but he held his tongue.

 

“What will happen to ‘87 if he can’t complete the simulation?” Rey looked straight at him and, as he always (or mostly always at any rate), he gave her the truth.

 

“Protocol states that a Trooper unable to complete the simulations is to be decommissioned.”

 

“You mean killed, but why?! Armitage, ‘87 is a good soldier! He has one of the highest scores regarding blaster fire! His excellent memory allows him to remember which of his teammates have an allergen to certain medicines! He can reset a broken bone and heal a person better than some of the seasoned soldiers!”

 

“Then why do you fear for him if he is such a good soldier?” Hux would like to think he was a man that did not give in to jealousy, but Rey’s answer could very well decide ‘87’s fate.

 

“Armitage, don’t forget I know the specs of the simulation. I know that the final test involves killing unarmed civilians, and that is something ‘87 just cannot do.”

 

“Rey, I’m sorry but I can’t change the rules and Phasma is in charge of that. But if ‘87 can’t complete the test then he will be-”

 

“But again, I ask you, why?! Why snuff out someone with his potential just because he refuses to do something so unethical as shooting an unarmed civilian? There is seldom any kind of strategic gain from shooting civilians, so why should ‘87 be punished for following a moral code that I myself would follow?” Before Hux could respond, his door chimed.

 

“Come.” Mitaka came in, looking like he was walking to his execution as he interrupted the Lt. Colonel and his bodyguard.

 

“What is it Second Lieutenant Mitaka?”

 

“Begging your pardon, sir, but General Karnak just messaged me to make sure Lady Rey was on her way for his training session with her.” That was something none of them understood; Rey had no official rank (though she did notice she was now earning a salary thanks to General’s Selek and Maboo) and she had no real last name, so no one knew how to address her, but for some reason, the others all referred to her as ‘Lady Rey’. As he had no alternative title to give her, Hux simply went along with it.

 

“Message him that I’m on my way, Hux, I’m not letting go of this.” Hux was afraid of that, and found himself at something of a crossroad; he could not alter rules without putting himself and Rey in danger, as well as her pet ‘Trooper, but the idea of her being so angry at him did not bode well at all. Oddly enough, she did not speak with him again that night, only had dinner, did her chores (she discovered last month that if she did them the night before, that gave her extra time to sleep or relax before her lessons) and then went to bed. A part of Hux wondered if she had come to terms with the fact he couldn’t save her ‘Trooper and was now giving him the silent treatment. That thought, though upsetting, was far better than its counter; that Rey was planning something that would force him to help her ‘Trooper or lose her. And the next day, he got his answer.

 

“Sir?”

 

“Yes, Captain Phasma?”

 

“You better come down here sir, a ‘Trooper just failed his simulation.” Hux sighed as he could guess just who it was.

 

“FN-2187?”

 

“Yes, sir, as well as…” Here Phasma paused, making Hux wonder what was going on, surely Slip hadn’t failed as well?

 

“As well as…?”

 

“Rey failed as well sir.” Here Hux couldn’t help swearing. He should have foreseen Rey taking this course of action, as to her it would make perfect sense; FN-2187 could not complete his simulation due to his high levels of empathy, which would result in him being terminated. But if Rey, his own bodyguard in training, failed the simulation for the same reason, well, what was the protocol for that?

 

“I’m on my way. Comm General Drake and General Karnak to meet me down there.” Hux seemed to teleport from the bridge to the simulators and was found staring at a recalcitrant ‘87 and a defiant Grey Jedi in training.

 

“I told you I was not going to let you ‘decommission’ ‘87,” Rey said in lieu of a greeting.

 

“How did you even manage to get in here? Only Stormtroopers are supposed to be in here.” Hux asked, clenching his fists as his mind tried to salvage what had happened as well as Rey’s punishment; he really hoped this was simply teenage rebellion and not a sign she was more of a Jedi than they had thought.

 

“Sir, we thought you had authorized it, here is the order you sent down.” Another ‘Trooper that got on well with Rey, JB-007, produced the datapad with the order and Hux had to admit, if he wasn’t so mad over what she had used it for, he would congratulate Rey on such an excellent forgery.

 

“Rey, do you have any idea what kind of position you’ve placed me in? If I allow FN-2187 to live while others are decommissioned, I will look weak as I bowed to the whims of someone who’s supposed to work for me. And if I decommission FN-2187 whilst allowing you to live, I am not only supporting your insubordination but spitting on the program the Commandant created.”

 

“Then decommission us both, problem solved,” Rey answered flippantly, but ‘87 was the one who spoke,

 

“No! Sir, please, I’m the one who couldn’t open fire and I was supposed to. As your bodyguard, Rey wouldn’t need to fire on a civilian unless your life was in danger. I’m the one who should be decommissioned, not Rey!” As Hux was about to speak, and probably doom himself, Karnak arrived with Drake and spoke up,

 

“If I may make another suggestion?” Hux nodded, now too angry to speak.

 

“Rey does have a point, as does ‘87, about the two having dissimilar roles on the First Order, so why not simply change ‘87’s role in the First Order so his moral code is not impeached?” This confused both Rey and Hux.

 

“What do you mean General?”

 

“Well, look at the boy’s scores from earlier in the simulations; he was doing wonderfully, scores expected of a ‘Trooper believed to surpass Captain. It would not only be a shame to decommission the boy, but also a crime. So, I suggest we make ‘87 part of a group of ‘Troopers that would take on special duties solely regarding the military operations instead of civilian raids. Recon, hostage situations, actual fighting with Resistance troops, that sort of thing. Of course, there is a… slight catch to this idea.”

 

“I might have known; what is this **_**_catch_**_**?” Hux asked, looking at Karnak.

 

“Any who are selected for this elite corps, the reconditioning would have to be greatly reduced as they would have to aid the fallen as well as take soldiers prisoner for questioning. Something I’ve noticed these ‘Troopers have trouble doing.”

 

“You are saying that I encourage ‘Troopers to disregard the very program the Commandant, my father, created?” Hux asked, looking at Karnak like he had lost his mind.

 

“Think about it Hux, my father often talks about the differences between the Clone Army and today’s ‘Troopers. Cloned ‘Troopers were intrinsically made to be loyal and still would aid their fallen comrades; the problem with Clones was that as they all had the same brain, they would almost all make the same mistake as the one next to him would make. Now, today’s ‘Troopers would still make mistakes, but your ten thousand different minds would make ten thousand different mistakes, and just one of those different minds could be the difference between victory and defeat, but if they are reconditioned too much, their brains turn to mush. Look at the differences between ‘87 and that one who tried to assassinate Rey, ‘39; he had been reconditioned so much, he could not be bothered to make sure one would notice him, not even checking to make sure you and Phasma were out of the room.” General Drake said, pointing out key factors his father would often speak of.

 

“So how do we make sure the ‘Troopers remain loyal?” Hux asked the two generals who seemed to be doing everything they could to help protect Rey’s pet ‘Trooper.

 

“Well, you’re loyal to the Order, and you haven’t had a machine play around with your mind, have you?” Drake asked, looking bored, but Hux could see the tightness of his shoulders; he was determined to have Hux come around to his way of thinking in order to protect Rey.

 

“I believe what Drake is getting at, is the idea that we treat the ‘Troopers as they are human, or they will turn on you. Train them to be loyal to the Order without all this reconditioning, allow them to be friends with their fellow ‘Troopers, give them the same purpose you have; to see the advancement of the First Order. Treat them like family and they will be loyal on their own, treat them like trash, and they will turn on you at the drop of a hat. Just as they turned on Salas in a heartbeat when the opportunity arose.” Here, Hux looked at Karnak.

 

“What do you mean?” Instead of answering, Karnak turned to Phasma.

 

“Tell me, Captain Phasma, how many ‘Troopers that were previously on **_**_The Argonaut_**_**  requested to be transferred to **_**_The Endeavor_**_**  with yourself and Lt. Colonel Hux?”

 

“Seventy-three percent of the ‘Troopers, sir.” Hux was surprised at that number.

 

“And how many of the officers that were previously stationed on **_**_The Argonaut_**_**?”

 

“Forty-six percent, sir, including the newly appointed Second Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka. He told me that he wished to be transferred as Salas thought him to be a very meek individual, and when I commented I agreed with the assessment, he promptly threw me on my back. As it turns out, Mitaka is the one who taught Rey here, Corellian Judo and has recently started teaching her Krav Maga if I’m not mistaken.” Karnak turned his attention back to Hux.

 

“You see? Salas had no idea just what he had on his ship, treated them like garbage, and when the chance came to jump ship, they were all too happy to do so. Allow me to draw up a rough outline of what I’m suggesting; you can only win! If the plan is a flop, High Command will only ever see my name and see it as a failed experiment. If it succeeds, you will be commended for taking a flawed program and turning out something that shall increase efficiency!”

 

“What about his scores?” Hux actually did want to help Rey, but he had to make sure that all bases were covered.

 

“I can withhold his scores sir or we can mention how he was an exemplary student until the final simulation, prompting this plan so as not to waste a valuable resource,” Phasma suggested, eager for any chance to save her favorite pupil.

 

“What do think, Drake? Uh, Drake?” All eyes turned to Drake, who was staring at ‘87, as he failed to respond to Karnak.

 

“What’s the matter, General Drake?” Rey asked.

 

“Karnak, I think we may have an addition to our classes.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“We’ll have to perform the tests to be positive, but I think the reason ‘87 here keeps shaking off his reconditioning so quickly, is because he’s Force Sensitive.” The room was silent for a moment, then all spoke the same word.

 

“WHAT?!” OK, more like shouted the same word, but still.

 

“Yes, we never noticed before because we were so focused on Rey, and the boy doesn’t have nearly as much raw power as she does. I also imagine he subconsciously kept his abilities under wraps as if he shone in that way, he would be recruited for Project Harvester, and taken away from his friends. I imagine his talent lies in the more mental side of the Force, but nonetheless, he will have to be trained, otherwise, Snoke will notice him and may focus more on us than we are ready for.” Drake then went on to speak with Karnak and Phasma about finding time to train FN-2187.

 

“Let’s get one thing straight; I am not referring to any apprentice of the Force as ‘FN-2187’, somebody think of a name for the boy. Like… Finn, but with more imagination.” Karnak grumbled, making Rey smile, causing Hux to glare at her.

 

“Don’t think for a moment that just because this experience **_**_may_**_**  turn out profitable for us, that you will not be punished for forging my authorization **_**_and_**_**  potentially placing us all in very real danger.”

 

“I acknowledge and accept any punishment that you will deliver to me, but know that I am only sorry for putting you on the spot with my actions, not for the actions themselves.” Rey agreed, and all were surprised that, despite only being about fourteen years old, she was so very mature about facing the Lt. Colonel’s wrath, when many older officers would be running from that man’s glare, or at least arguing about being punished.

 

“Go to our quarters and wait for me; I will be there at the end of my shift to deal with you.” Rey nodded, saluted, and promptly left the simulation room.

 

“Come along Finn (seriously, someone come up with a better name for him), we’ll start your training by some simple meditation, allowing you to relax,” Karnak said as he escorted the beginning of a new breed of Stormtrooper from the simulation room. JB-007 left the room as well to file the other ‘Trooper’s scores; thankfully no one apart from the previously named FN-2187 had failed. This left Phasma, Drake, and Hux in the simulation room.

 

“You knew what she was going to do, didn’t you?” Hux asked Drake, who had the gall to shrug at him.

 

“To be fair, Karnak was the last mind-reader with her yesterday, so he would have had more than half-baked ideas to look at than I did. Though it didn’t take a mind-reader to tell she was concerned for her Stormtrooper. But never mind that; I will take control of the bridge, you go deal with her now.”

 

“That would hardly be appropriate.” Here, Drake actually glared at Hux.

 

“You may be getting better at shielding your mind Hux, but don’t think for a moment that you can hide from Karnak and me. As for her punishment, your shift doesn’t end for two hours; two hours where she will be unable to do anything whilst she drives herself sick with worry and you have two hours to stew in your anger, making yourself angrier then you have a right to be, possibly worsening her punishment. Go, get it out of your system, and calm down, as I do expect to see her training with me and Finn tomorrow after her morning lessons, not in the medical bay. And after you are done with your punishment, tell her that tomorrow, I think we can begin constructing her lightsaber.” Hux took off at the clear dismissal and he could tell from Phasma’s body language, that she too was worried about what he would do. Surely he wasn’t that terrifying, that others would be concerned over how he would punish his own ward? When he arrived at his quarters, it was to the sight of Rey, kneeling in the middle of the room, meditating so deeply, she didn’t react to the sound of the door opening.

 

“Rey,” Hux called to her, but she did not answer, so we walked over, lightly tapped her shoulder, and watched as she jumped, knocking her side into the coffee table.

 

“Your shift isn’t over for two hours, what are you doing here?”

 

“General Drake thought it best that we take care of your punishment now, instead of the two of us stewing for two hours; one in fear and the other in anger. Now, do you understand why you are being punished?” Hux asked this every time he punished her, which, truthfully, hadn’t been very often, a few outbursts of anger here, a chore not up to par there.

 

“I went against protocol and forced you to find a solution for Finn.” Wonderful, she had already taken to calling him by name.

 

“Was the idea of a different kind of Stormtrooper yours or Karnak’s?”

 

“I’d say it was mostly mine, at least the rough bits, Karnak smoothed it all out and included the bit about reducing conditioning.”

 

“And the fact that you felt the need to go entirely behind my back, pull off this stunt that could have gotten you killed, and possibly embarrass myself and Phasma, was whose?”

 

“I tried to talk to you about it but you would never fracture protocol!”

 

“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK I DO FOR YOU EVERY SINGLE DAY?!” Hux finally shouted, making Rey flinch, causing Hux to take a breath to compose himself before continuing,

 

“I have done everything in my power to keep you safe, from protecting you from Salas, from Supreme Leader, to getting you two teachers, which I’m lucky no one thought it strange that a man who doesn’t put much stock in the Force, would ask for two Force Users as his mentors. I have done all that for you, and you didn’t think you could have given me some inkling about what you were going to do?” Rey now looked ashamed and wouldn’t meet his eyes.

 

“I thought if you didn’t know then you would have deniability, and wouldn’t get in too much trouble. I just didn’t want to see Finn die, he’s my only friend here.” That remark hit Hux hard.

 

“What about Phasma? Mitaka? Myself?”

 

“Phasma only puts up with me because you asked her to. Mitaka saw me being thrown around by the Stormtroopers during our training sessions and offered to teach me Corellian Judo and Krav Maga because those two focus on using your opponents weight against them, something he had to learn as well. And I’m training to be your bodyguard and assistant, not your friend; I got the impression you tolerated me because I’m useful and I accept that. But after Finn and Slip caught my would-be assassin, the two would often talk to me and spend downtime with me, it just, helps.” Hux face-palmed as he realized the Force was all about connections and feeling others, so of course Rey would desire contact, he just hadn’t realized she and him would have vastly different versions of it.

 

“Rey, Phasma does like you, she just has trouble expressing it because of both her conditioning and the fact that on her homeworld the things friends do together, such as sharing a drink, you are still a little young for, not to mention Phasma is not a ‘touchy-feely’ type person. I’m afraid that I can’t say much on the part of Mitaka, but I can say that as a graduate of Arkanis, my homeworld, he would never have offered you help unless he saw something in you that he liked. And I am your friend as well, it’s just, I don’t know how to express that fact to you in a way you would understand. I, like you, never had friends as a child, and my father would hardly win any awards for parenting. But the fact of the matter is that I greatly enjoy your company because unlike other females I’ve met, you are not a vapid air-head, and unlike other Force users, you do not believe that the Force can solve everything, that it is up to people to fix problems. I honestly find your company more enjoyable than most of the officers I have had to deal with in the past.” Rey didn’t know what to say at that, so she simply asked,

 

“My punishment?” Hux sighed, he would simply have to find another way to make her understand.

 

“I will spank you twenty times; ten times for insubordination, five for recklessness, and five for misconceptions.” Rey glanced at him at the misconceptions remark but merely went to the desk for her to lean over, only for Hux to grab her arm.

 

“No, I’m going to sit on the bed, I want you to lower your trousers and lay across my lap.” This had Rey looking at him shocked.

 

“Did I stutter?” Hux asked in a cold voice, snapping Rey out of it as she mumbled a negative, and they went about it. As she laid out across his lap, he looked at her rear covered by the regulation undergarments, thought about ordering those off as well, but decided against it and says,

 

“After each strike, I want you to say ‘I’m sorry and I’m important to you’, you will have ten seconds to respond after each strike, and for every time you fail to say it, a further strike shall be added. If we reach the point where you cannot speak and are at your limit, I want you to use the Force and let me know, do you understand?”

 

“Hux…” Rey tried to say, only for a warning swat to land.

 

“I understand.”

 

“Good.” SMACK! One.

 

“Ow! I’m sorry and I’m important to you.” SMACK! Two.

 

“Damn it! I’m sorry and I’m important to you.” On and on this went, by the seventh smack, the tears she had been holding back started falling, and by the fourteenth she was having trouble speaking as she choked up, until, by the time she had said ‘I’m sorry and I’m important to you’, she had actually been smacked twenty-three times. Hux managed to pull her up, have her lean against him, and produced a pillow for her to sit on his knees to cushion her rear as he held her.

 

“My good girl, taking your punishment so well.”

 

“B-but I…” One of Hux’s hands started rubbing her back as he comforted her.

 

“Shush, you were bad, you had to be punished, and now that you’ve been punished, I can tell you how proud I am of you. So brave, to go through with a plan that could have ended badly. So Foxy, to forge my signature so well that it even fooled Phasma, and you know how much I love foxes. So strong, so beautiful, so wonderful.” Hux cooed at her, revealing just how proud he was of her for doing something so reckless that many thought stupid, but if she could give him this kind of a headache, imagine the pain she could give the enemy? She tentatively wrapped her arms around him, soaking in his warmth. Was this what she needed to understand his friendship? Some hugging and kind words? Well, if she could wait for privacy, he had no opposition to her sitting on his lap. The words may be a bit trickier, but he was sure the cuddling would be more effective, after all, didn’t everyone say that actions speak louder than words?

 

“Because you’ve shown such ingenuity through this incident, General Drake told me to tell you that tomorrow you are to begin construction on your own lightsaber. He believes you are ready.”

 

“B-but I can b-barely hold my own with the s-saberstaff and-” Rey tried to interrupt but Hux simply cooed as he said,

 

“I think it’s one of those ‘will of the Force things’ they like talking about.” Hux was a little surprised when Rey tentatively kissed him; he was rather certain she hadn’t learned about sex from the droids yet.

 

“Sorry, did I do it wrong?” Rey asked between her sniffles as she was calming down.

 

“No, it was rather nice, for a first attempt, but where did you learn that?”

 

“I saw a couple officers doing it before we left **_**_The Argonaut_**_** , they seemed to be enjoying the fact that Salas would no longer be their commander. What is it though?”

 

“It’s called kissing, it’s something many humanoid species do, usually to express fondness, comfort, or joy.”

 

“Will you show me it, properly? You said my first attempt wasn’t bad, but I heard the implication that it could have been better.” A good man would have directed Rey to a teaching Droid so she could learn about safety and sex (and statutory rape) and would wait at least three more years before trying anything. Hux was not a good man, but he wasn’t about to fuck a fourteen-year-old that didn’t know the first thing about sex. But then again, a demonstration would be the best teacher, and many teenagers often made out. And he knew the best way to keep Rey, was binding her in all manners, from mental, to emotional, to physical. He closed his eyes and lowered his lips to Rey’s, keeping the pressure both firm and light. When she started mimicking his movements, he included his tongue into the mix, causing her to gasp, and his tongue eagerly sought her own. As he started sucking on it, he felt her tap his shoulder so he pulled back, to watch her catch her breath; right, kissing virgins have trouble breathing and kissing at the same time.

 

“Did you like that?”

 

“Yeah, but how come you aren’t out of breath like I am?”

 

“Because I know how to kiss and breathe at the same time.”

 

“Can you show me?”

 

“Gladly.”

 

**_**_Next Day_ ** _ **

 

Rey was happy when she saw General Drake enter with Finn in a whole new outfit much like hers. To her understanding, they were similar to the robes Jedi Padawans wore in combat as well as training.

 

“Now, Rey, as you already know what I’m going to say to Finn, I am setting you up with a special furnace to help create your saber and crystal. I know we had originally planned on you using one of the crystals I have with me, but I think your saber will be stronger if you use the Force to make your own crystal, much the same way Darth Maul and Luke Skywalker did.” Rey was a little upset she wouldn’t get to at least see Finn with a lightsaber, but she knew the sooner she had her lightsaber, the better off Hux would be.

 

“Now, I cannot say for certain whether you will be as proficient with a lightsaber as Rey is; the two of you are quite different in your temperaments. She is fire and earth; passionate, but patient, steady, but flexible. You are air and water; go with the flow, but determined to find an alternate path to fit your beliefs. But, you must still know how to wield one as there may come a day when you and Rey are together, but she is unable to fight; you will have to pick up her saber and fight or believe me worse things than your moral compass will be broken. Understood?”

 

“Yes sir, general. General, may I ask a question?”

 

“You are no longer an ordinary Stormtrooper, nor are you FN-2187, if you have a question, ask it, don’t waste my time with these foolish protocols.”

 

“Yes sir, sorry sir. The question is, what **_**_are_**_**  these lightsaber crystals you and Rey were talking about?”

 

“Ah, a good question that, you may be smarter than you look. The crystal is not, by itself, the power source of the weapon. Like the Force user, the crystal is attuned to the Force. Without that attunement, the crystal is just a rock. And while I have seen non-Force users ignite and wield a lightsaber, provided the crystal was properly attuned to the Force, all that lightsaber would be for him is a shaft of super-heated plasma. But for a Force user, whether they be Jedi, Sith, or a non-denomination, the lightsaber becomes more: it is a manifestation of our connection to the Force. Does that help?”

 

“I think I understand sir; the lightsaber is a weapon in anyone’s hands, but only in a Force users’ can it be used to full potential. Another question sir, I have heard that Obi-Wan Kenobi had a blue saber, whilst Yoda had a green one, and Darth Vader, as well as other Sith Lords, have a red saber, does color mean anything?”

 

“As a matter of fact, it does. Sith have red lightsabers because they often use synthetic crystals, believed to be more powerful and better for offense than natural, and it’s believed that as the Sith poured the power of the Dark Side into these crystals, the color turned red to match their passion, their anger, and their hatred. Now, for the Jedi, they had four main colors, others would crop up occasionally, but those were due others using certain crystals that had interesting effects, to say the least. Now, blue, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, indicated a ****Jedi Guardian**** , a Jedi who used the Force on a more physical level. Green, such as Yoda and Rey’s favorite Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn, indicated a ****Jedi Consular**** , a Jedi who preferred to reflect on the mysteries of the Force and fight the dark side at its heart. Yellow indicated a ****Jedi Sentinel**** , a Jedi who honed his or her skills in a balance of combat and scholarly pursuits. And finally, you have purple, one that was often seen in those who had turned from the Dark Side, these Jedi found themselves able to access the power of the Dark Side without being consumed by hatred or being corrupted by it.”

 

“So, what color do you think Rey will make?”

 

“Whatever color she makes, and however long it shall take her, it will be as the Force wills it. Now, let’s get down to some basics. Oh and don’t worry; I fully expect you to hate me by the time the week is up.” With a smirk that made Finn wish he had just completed the simulation, Drake began his teachings. Meanwhile, Rey was in her own world as she focused on both the crystal and her saber construction.

 

**_**_As Rey tended to her furnace, she thought about all she had learned these past few months on blades and sabers. She liked using her Bo staff in battle, but she worried about the saberlance having such a target for blasters as well as her opponents having such an area to hit and destroy her weapon. The saberstaff had served Darth Maul and his brother well, but she kept getting burned by it, was it the weapon for her?_ ** _ **

**_**** _ **

**_**_Yes, it was, it just had to be modified, made into a lightsaber the likes of which had never been seen before. Yes, make the hilt insulated against other sabers for defense, and make it so it could grow or shrink depending on what she needed. But she needed more of an edge in order to throw her opponents off guard, maybe… yes, have it so the saber could be broken into two parts, connected by fibercord. Drake had been impressed with how well she handled the fighting style of Jar’Kai or dual blade lightsaber combat, and a saber like this would show her enemies how good she was at it too._ ** _ **

**_**** _ **

**_**_The hilt design was now firmly planted in her mind, and thanks to that, she was now being besieged by many colors. Red tried getting into her saber but she wouldn’t allow it; she was not a Sith, and she did not allow her anger and fear to enter the battlefield. Green then tried to enter her saber, only for the color to die out and it was a small wonder; the most diplomatic one got on Jakku was when to argue and when to keep your mouth shut. Blue was the next color, and it made a valiant effort, but the blade just was not activating. She was a fighter, and if she thought of you as hers, she would defend you to the bitter end. But the fact of the matter was, as Karnak had said, there was a time for action and a time for thinking; if she did not heed that balance, then she would be useless for what Hux wanted and needed. This left two colors; purple and yellow, both were equal and both wanted to color the blade. Finally, they came to a decision._ ** _ **

 

Rey rubbed her eyes as she came out of her trance, and was surprised at how hungry she felt; had they gone past lunch hour? Wasn’t Karnak mad about that? As she tried to make sense of why Drake would allow her to miss lunch, she heard voices, and two of them sounded particularly angry, they were a man’s and a woman’s.

 

“I’m going to say this just one more time; bring Rey out of that infernal trance this minute!” The male’s voice was familiar; a flash of red hair? Oh, that’s right, it was Hux speaking, and he did not sound happy at all.

 

“I admire the endurance training but this really should be worked up to; she has not eaten or had anything to drink in three days!” Who was Phasma talking about? Surely not Rey herself? She had only begun construction on her saber a couple hours ago, not a few days ago!

 

“I told you both before; she is currently in a trance, she cannot even feel the passage of time, when she comes out of it, with her very own lightsaber, she will think it is still the same day as she begun construction.” A man, older in years but younger in maturity, spoke and she could feel Hux and Phasma’s anger at his glib response.

 

“When this was suggested, I thought it would only take an hour or two, not a week!” Hux shouted.

 

“I wouldn’t worry about that; no one has ever been in a trance for seven days; Darth Maul was in his for four days so that’s probably when she’ll come out of it.”

 

“PROBABLY?!” The two shouted, and Rey tried to open her mouth, only to find it dry as a bone, so she could only squeak out,

 

“Taj?” She watched as all eyes turned to her before Finn rushed over with some water. He helped her drink it, making sure she only took baby-sips. She was unsurprised to see he had more than a few scorch marks on his clothing; Drake was skilled enough to keep the blade from doing major damage, but he still believed the best way to learn was with actual weapons that would leave more than bruises behind.

 

“Thanks, Finn.”

 

“No problem, are you OK? You’ve been at those furnaces for almost a full three days, a lot of us were worried.”

 

“Three days?! I suppose that explains why I’m so hungry.” Rey replied as she went to stand, only to fall into Finn, who grabbed her, and she looked up when she felt another set of hands on her, to see Hux had come over.

 

“I’ve called for a service droid to bring you something to eat; you can eat more once we’re in our rooms and I’ve killed Drake.” Rey smiled, though she could hear the undertones of threat that he at least somewhat meant what he was saying. Drake, however, wasn’t paying attention to anyone as he and Karnak looked over Rey’s most unusual saber. The hilt was the size he had been expecting for a saberlance, but it felt different; he had held many sabers in his time, thanks to his fathers collection and incessant need that his son be familiar with all types of sabers (he could still hear his mother scolding her husband for giving his five-year-old son a saber club to practice with; his father had been in the doghouse for months after that), but he had never held one like this.

 

“Rey, what exactly did you make here?” Karnak asked as he too looked at the strange saber. Before she could answer, Hux, snapped,

 

“You can wait until I’ve managed to get some sustenance into my ward before continuing with your Force hocus pocus.” Rey nudged him with her shoulder.

 

“But I **_**_want_**_**  to show them my saber; I’m really proud of it.” Hux’s features softened as he looked at his ward.

 

“I understand that, but you haven’t eaten since breakfast three days ago, and that was hardly a meal to to last for so long.” The droid chose that moment to come in with some finger foods it knew Rey liked; not that Rey was a picky eater by any stretch of the word, but still, she had some favorites. It happily chirped and almost rolled over Phasma to get to Rey.

 

“Thank you, RX-Q2.” The droid beeped, then whirled out, presumably to get more substantial food for their quarters.

 

“Is there **_**_any_**_**  Droid on this ship that doesn’t fall over itself to make you happy?” Hux asked as he settled Rey on a seat next to him whilst Phasma and Finn were talking to Karnak, Drake still trying to figure Rey’s saber out.

 

“Are there any I haven’t met yet?” Rey asked, pushing some of the snacks to Hux, who ate them reluctantly, knowing Rey wouldn’t eat otherwise.

 

“Not to my knowledge.”

 

“Then no.” After Rey had finished the snacks that would sustain her, she stood up, and Drake gave her the saber whilst he drew his own. They bowed to each other, then took up their fighting stances. Drake ignited his blue saber with a curved handle, and Rey ignited her yellow saber with a lance handle.

 

“A Sentinel; Drake explained them as those who honed their skills in combat and scholarly pursuits evenly,” Finn explained to Phasma though Hux listened as well. He watched though as the sabers lightly touched each other, in fights they would probably count as opening moves, here it felt like a salute. Rey was about as tall as she would ever get, which admittedly was very much, so Drake had her greatly outmatched; he was stronger, had a greater reach, and his species had an exceptionally thick epidermal layer, so she would need direct hits to do any real damage. What Rey had in her favor was that she was quick and exceptionally cunning, as well as the element of surprise as she wielded a lightsaber Drake didn’t have much experience against.

 

She kept her distance and Hux agreed; the lance was far more like a Bo staff as it gave her some distance to strike, whereas Drake had to lean in slightly. He was surprised when Rey dropped to the ground but saw the method to her madness when he saw her use the hilt like her staff, and jab Drake in the stomach. He grunted a little, but he showed no other signs of discomfort and brought his saber down to knock the hilt away, thankfully not destroying it. Drake allowed her to stand straight again.

 

“Perhaps we should have simply been training with the lance child; you seem born for it!” Drake praised even as he brought his saber down, and Hux saw that Rey was again right; the curved handle allowed for greater control of the weapon and allowed Drake to throw his weight behind his weapon. He saw Rey trying to keep her weapon up and away from her face, and Hux felt fear trickle into his stomach as it seemed to be a losing battle as the blade inched closer and closer to her face. They all watched however as Rey’s saber hilt suddenly started shrinking, and suddenly, a second beam of light shot out of the end, this one purple. The shock at what he was seeing was enough for Rey to knock Drake’s saber back and away as she twirled the transformed saberstaff.

 

“Impressive Rey; no one has ever managed to make a saber that could switch styles like that, but I’m afraid you’ve got to have more than that to beat me.” Drake again praised as he circled her, letting her know he was now taking her seriously; he only started circling Karnak when he knew Karnak was scheming something.

 

“Then how about this?” They watched as again Rey’s saber changed, this time, the saber split in two, with some fibercord connecting the two blades together, and Rey showed all those present just how talented she was at Jar’Kai. Drake suddenly found himself on the defensive as he tried to figure out how this blasted saber worked, as she not only used the blades but the cord as well, at one point, wrapping it around his arm and using her momentum to make him fall to the floor. As Drake stood and tried to regain his own momentum, the others watched as the saber changed one final time, the purple blade again receding and the secondary hilt reforming. Drake charged her, trying to use the moments her saber needed to reconfigure as a chance to use his own strength, but she used the end that was now solid hilt to knock hard into the back of one of his knees, pushing all of her strength behind it. The leg was pushed into the air, she wrapped the fibercord around it and pulled, throwing him off balance once again, and when the room stopped spinning, it was to the sight of a yellow blade near his face. Hux looked at Rey, it was obvious she had used up all the energy she had gained from her food for the fight, but in that moment where she was victorious, not because she was the biggest or the strongest, but because she was the most creative, she looked like she could take on the galaxy. Even as her legs gave out, and Hux caught her he knew; with her by his side, the galaxy would be theirs for the taking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: OK, Rey might have seemed invincible at the end there, but she had the advantage of surprise; she is still growing but lucky her, she now has a classmate with her in the form of Finn! Next chapter, we’ll have a time jump and we’ll most likely see Kylo sooner rather than later. Now, regarding Finn, should he also have a lightsaber? If so, what color? He seems eager to fight for what is right, like Obi-Wan, but he’s against violence unless necessary, rather like Qui-Gon. Oh, and I better not hear any crap about how Rey’s lightsaber is physically impossible; George came up with a weapon that can cut through any substance in the known universe that has pretty much become the sci-fi fans universal symbol. Don’t get mad at me simply because I tweaked the damn thing. Always remember; MY STORY, MY RULES!


	3. Time Passes and Kylo Ren Shows Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So again, time has passed, and now, we finally see Kylo Ren. And, making a villain cameo this chapter, Snoke!

Disclaimer: If I owned this, do you really think I would have killed off Han Solo of all people?

 

****Chapter 3** **

****

It had been three years since Rey made her lightsaber and Finn was discovered to be Force Sensitive and they had been both interesting and productive years, to say the least. Finn was made the captain of his own squadron of special ‘Troopers, called the Death Walkers, for where they walked, death followed. These ‘Troopers took on small, but highly important military outposts and Drake had drilled them all so hard, the losses were usually five-to-one in their favor. Whenever there were large military outposts to be conquered, the Death Walkers were sent in first, gathered Intel, searched out weak points and usually found an area to attack from that was easy to defend. Between Captain Phasma’s ground ‘Troopers who were for large scale attacks as well as civilian raids, and Captain Finn’s special-ops Death Walkers, there were few ‘Troopers who were as well trained as theirs.

 

The success of the new ‘Troopers made **_**_The Endeavor_**_**  positively gleam amongst the other ships, and just as General Karnak had promised, High Command saw the idea as Hux’s as he did not wish to waste Stormtroopers who had great potential but could not open fire on civilians. Many at High Command had been thrilled and practically salivating at this jump in efficiency, and therefore asked **_**_Colonel_**_**  Hux to send along the details of the program so that they could start instigating it at the Academies. Hux’s promotion had earned Rey her first official make-out session at sixteen, and the Stormtroopers were treated with some much needed R&R, which consisted of them throwing a celebration in their barracks but they didn’t care where they held it; they were seen as more than expendable soldiers now, and it was all due to one Stormtrooper refusing to fire.

 

Continuing on with Finn, his Force training was coming along very well indeed. As Drake predicted, Finn was better with the mental aspects of the Force rather than the physical like Rey, not that that was a bad thing by any means. Hux quickly learned that, though his early life was less than ideal, he must have been favored by fate to have Rey as his bodyguard and Finn as the leader of his special-ops team. Two of Finn’s abilities were what Karnak called ‘Farsight’, the ability to gain vague impressions of people and events using the Force and ‘Force Empathy’, that was the ability to pick-up feelings, emotional states and even motivations and deeply guarded secrets. Those abilities had saved Hux and Rey from a catastrophe as they had gone down to a planet for simple negotiations, and the Force had warned Finn that if he and his squad didn’t go, they would be killed. It turned out to be true as the people there had foolishly wanted war and were hoping to assassinate a First Order official and blame the Resistance. It was on that day that Hux started to appreciate Finn and treated him as he did Phasma, including calling him by name. As well as these two, Finn also had ‘Battle Precognition’ (enough said), like Rey he could use ‘Force Fear’, and he was very pro-efficient at ‘Force Stasis’, which allowed him to put his targets in a near catatonic state, rather than killing them. Finn had been worried over how he seemed more attuned to Light abilities, but (and this had shocked everyone into silence) Hux had reassured him that those abilities were all extremely useful for him as a soldier.

 

Almost two years ago, Finn had made his first lightsaber and Rey had made a secondary saber to have as ‘silent back-up’. Somehow, no one knew where he had gotten it, but Drake got his hands on a rare Ghostfire crystal, a crystal which, when used in a lightsaber, created a blade which was nearly invisible and made no sound. He had said it was a better weapon for Rey’s ‘duties’, which Hux didn’t understand until six months afterward, and Rey had made it a shoto saber, often using it to catch Finn or Drake off-guard (more than usual, that is). But, back to Finn’s saber, his was most unique. They found him better suited to Karnak’s tonfa-style than Drake’s curved handle or Rey’s lance/staff, which had made Karnak very happy. And the color was most unusual as well; his saber was orange with a green core. When the others had seen it lit up, no one had known what to say, so Drake had asked his father what it meant. Apparently, the crystal had seen what Finn was at heart and saw him as both a peace keeper and a negotiator. The green meant that Finn was a peaceful person at heart, but would fight to protect that peace. Which Rey saw as very fitting, seeing as how as First Order soldiers, they were fighting to preserve their peace (a move which further cemented Finn’s role as, if Rey thought it fit, then it fit). Then there was the orange color, again, peaceful individuals, but were also big on negotiation as well as being almost as skilled in combat as the Jedi Guardians. So, in a way, his saber was saying he would fight the enemies of the First Order, but only as a precursor to negotiations for peace. His battle skill was proven when Finn went against some of his former colleagues, who were armed with Z6 batons and Vibroblades, and promptly thrashed most of them. He was pretty black and blue at the end of it himself, but he was proud of how he had lasted as long as he did.

 

As for Rey’s duties, Hux learned something very interesting from Mitaka one day; Drake’s species did not have a true word for bodyguard, though they did have something similar, which was what Drake had been training Rey as. Imagine Hux’s surprise when, one day he came down to see how Rey was progressing and found her trying to murder a dummy, without being noticed. Hux quickly asked just what the frack was going on, to which Drake confusedly responded that Drake was training Rey to be what he wanted; an **_**_assassin_**_**. The two had gotten into an argument that **_**_no_**_** , that was not what Hux wanted, he had wanted a **_**_bodyguard_**_** , to which Drake had responded with,

 

“Right, she guards your body by killing your enemies without anyone being the wiser. She would also need to be able to sneak around your enemies abodes and dig up dirt for you to use against them; she’s very good at that ability.” On and on the argument went, until Mitaka had shown up, and explained to the two that, though Drake’s species **_**_mostly_**_** human, there was still a slight language gap.

 

“You see sir, in General Drake’s language, the word ‘bodyguard’ doesn’t translate the way it would for ourselves; in the General’s mind, you were asking him to train someone who could protect your being; your body, your mind, your career, everything. So, what would be the best way to protect you? Blackmail your enemies into submission, destroy them with the information, or, for the more persistent ones, simply kill them. So, Rey has become not only your bodyguard and assistant but also your spy and your assassin.”

 

“Wonderful.” After that, Rey would often go on raids with Finn, having her take out the commanding officers, leaving the foot soldiers with a simple choice; fight against those that were already kicking your asses, or join the First Order peacefully. Needless to say, they quickly agreed to surrender and would sign on to appease the ‘vicious’ fighters they had seen in battle. Of course, these raids served a further, unforeseen, benefit; reminding Hux that there were still things that Rey needed to learn and have done. After she almost drowned trying to get at a flower she rather liked, Hux was reminded that for all the combat and mental training she had received, she was still someone from Jakku, a desert planet, who had never learned how to swim. And after that revelation had come another; she had not been inoculated for certain illnesses such as influenza, nor had she gotten the implant to prevent pregnancies; thank the Maker they had not gone any further than making out without their outer clothes on at that point. He knew Drake and Karnak did not fully approve of their relationship, believing him to be taking advantage of her, but the truth was that she read or heard about these things from third parties/source material, and he was the only one she felt comfortable with to try them out.

 

The crew all covered and made it look like Hux was always on the bridge or in his office when in reality, he was in his quarters looking after Rey; he had been the one to neglect to get her inoculations, so it was only right he be the one to look after her. She was given a shot, along with updating all her medical needs (including the implant), but she would still suffer for three days as the serum ran through her body and destroyed the virus. So, he helped cool her down from her fever, gave her plenty of fluid, and rubbed her back as she threw up. The crew knew this was the best course of action, otherwise, Hux would be comming whoever was looking after her every ten minutes. Besides which, they liked Rey as even though she was a Force user, she and Finn weren’t as bad as they had heard the Knights of Ren were from other ships, who apparently believed matters of the Force overruled everything, even to the detriment of the First Order.

 

All of that lead to this moment, where Colonel Hux was walking to his training room, intent on speaking to his command crew, with First Lieutenant Mitaka right behind him. They had important information to share with those he considered not only his fellow commanders but friends and confidants. They stopped short when he saw the Stormtroopers gathered around Finn and Rey, who appeared to simply be staring at each other.

 

“Either this is the most intense staring contest in history or those two are battling each other on the astral plane again.” Hux stage whispered to Mitaka, who had trouble not laughing at such a comment. At the sound of his voice, Phasma came over.

 

“They had just finished their lightsaber duel when Karnak had them enter the psychic plane, to test their skills there. The Stormtroopers are split on who to cheer for; Finn is one of them, as well as being a commander, but Rey is seen as something of a little sister to most of the ‘Troopers here; she has nicknames for almost every ‘Trooper.” Hux looked over at his special-ops ‘Troopers, their armor was different from the other squad; their armor was lighter in weight so they lost some protection, but they were faster and had more freedom of movement, and depending on their surroundings, the color of the armor changed; if they were in a desert region, the armor was a very light brown, if they were in a heavily wooded area it would change to match etc.

 

“Do I need to ask who won the saber duel?” Hux asked, and the other two could see his vicious pride, oh, he liked Finn well enough, but he never forgot how Rey found him attractive when she first saw him.

 

“He got close to beating her, but she simply keeps coming up with new tricks to try that keep throwing him off balance. The only times he actually has a chance at beating her is when he teams up with Drake, but even those are waning. On the astral plane, he does much better and their ‘score board’ as Drake calls it, isn’t quite so lopsided, with Finn so far beating her two-one. If she wishes to keep that average, however, she best win this fight, as he has won the last two.” Hux rather believed that might have something to do because Finn had __needed__  to hide his abilities, whereas for Rey, on Jakku, it had been a choice over what would cause damage and what could have gotten her killed. So she had developed the reading of minds to protect herself, as well as the ‘Jedi Mind Trick’ to try and get more rations, but beyond that, she had not focused on the mental aspects, as the physical was simply far more appealing, such as moving a hunk of metal out of the way to get a valuable piece. They were drawn out of their conversation when all of a sudden, Finn was sent sailing into the far wall.

 

“Ow, Rey, what the frack was that?” Finn asked as two of the ‘Troopers helped Finn stand up.

 

“The last two times you wiped the floor with me on the astral plane, so I decided to work on something; it’s basically a psychic version of my Electrical Judgment.” Rey gasped out as Slip came over and offered her some water; the attack had worked but it had taken a lot out of her.

 

“Well Karnak, that leaves my apprentice at two victories today, compared to yours not winning any.”

 

“He’s still one up on her on the astral plane!” Karnak argued. This had been an interesting development; as there were now two Force users to train, both men had taken one as an unofficial apprentice. Hux swore those two must be fucking on the side; they got into far too many arguments not to be. But before they could continue their argument, Mitaka moved forward to announce,

 

“Attention everyone, Colonel Hux wishes to address all of you, so if you could kindly quiet down for a few moments, you may resume training or whatever your duties are when he has finished his announcement.” Everyone turned and stood at parade rest to face the Colonel. Rey tried, but she looked ready to collapse so he nodded at her, and she sat on a nearby crate.

 

“Thank you Lieutenant, everyone, as most of you may know, before coming to command **_**_The Endeavor_**_**  Lady Rey and I submitted plans for an entirely new breed of Star Destroyer, one that was not only on the cutting edge of weapon systems but also fully self-sufficient and not dependent on machines that could malfunction or be sabotaged for life support. It is with great pride that I tell you that our plans have been turned into a reality, and **_**_The Finalizer_**_**  shall be the First Order’s new flagship, that others shall be based upon and look to.” There was much cheering, as not only was this a boon to the First Order but also to their commanding officer as he and his bodyguard (or whatever you called her) came up with the plans for this new flagship. He noticed however that Rey was not cheering, most likely as technically he wouldn’t be considered to command **_**_The Finalizer_**_**  as he was only a Colonel and he had to be a Brigadier General before being considered. However,

 

“As **_**_The Finalizer_**_**  is of my design, as well as our remarkable efficiency that leaves all others in the dust, my name has been considered to command her, and if chosen, I have been told, that I shall not be promoted to Brigadier General, but to a full General.” Hux had to wait as the cheering started again, and this time, Rey, Drake, and Karnak could not hide their shock at this; he would be skipping over Brigadier, Major General, **_**_and_**_** Lieutenant General if this went through. Bypassing Major to become a Lt. Colonel was one thing, but bypassing **_**_three_**_**  ranks and made **_**_General_**_**  before he was forty? That was simply unheard of.

 

“ Quiet, everyone; I know you are all excited about this as it would greatly benefit us all, but I must also inform you that Supreme Leader Snoke is sending one of his Knights of Ren in order to assess us and see if we are ready and capable of handling the responsibility of **_**_The Finalizer_**_**  and her potential. I feel I must remind all of you; no one at High Command is aware of Lady Rey or Captain Finn’s Force sensitivity, and if Supreme Leader found out about them, it is most likely that Lady Rey would be taken and transformed into one of the Knights of Ren. Knowing our Lady as we do, it is most likely she would be their master within a couple years.” A few of the Death Walkers couldn’t help laughing at that; Rey liked being useful, and the best way to be useful was to be the best, so it wouldn’t surprise them if Rey did take up the mantle of Master of the Knights of Ren. However, none of the crew wanted to see Rey leave them as Hux would undoubtedly become an unbearable hard ass, not to mention being exposed to that much of the Dark Side on a day-to-day basis would probably drive their Lady insane.

 

“But there is little doubt in my mind that Supreme Leader would destroy Captain Finn for a number of reasons.” This quickly silenced any laughter as the ‘Troopers realized their own commander could be in very real danger.

 

“One of these reasons is that Captain Finn, as you are all aware, is more in-tuned with the Light Side of the Force, something Supreme Leader has no use for and would ultimately see as a threat. Another is Captain Finn’s relationship with Lady Rey; if Supreme Leader wants Lady Rey as a Knight of Ren, and again there is little doubt in my mind that he would, any sort of connection she has to the light would have to be stamped out. So, I must caution you all that when this Knight is present, you do not, in any way, think of Captain Finn or Lady Rey’s Force sensitivity. Otherwise, simply perform your duties and stay out of this Knight’s way as he no doubt believes himself to be above those of us who are not Force sensitive. Some of you may wonder why I am telling you all this directly; it is because I do not trust our comlinks to not be hijacked by an outsider and revealed to other parties, and I know that by informing you Stormtroopers, the whole ship shall be made aware of these instructions in less than two hours. Dismissed.” The ‘Troopers all dispersed but Phasma, Finn, Slip, Rey, Drake, and Karnak all followed Hux and Mitaka to an empty storage room.

 

“What weren’t you telling them back there?” Phasma asked.

 

“First, was the identity of the Knight of Ren; Supreme Leader is sending his pet Master of the Knights of Ren, Kylo Ren.” This had many of those assembled groaning in dismay at the thought of the man child that was said to have the worst temper of all the Knights of Ren coming to inspect them and judge them.

 

“And the other fact, sir?” Finn asked, and Hux sighed; if Rey was upset at the first piece of news, she was going to be furious over this next piece.

 

“The second piece of news is that no matter who is chosen as commander of **_**_The Finalizer_**_** , they will share command with Kylo Ren; it’s supposedly so that the Knights of Ren, a religious faction, along with the First Order, a military faction, can learn to work together.” Hux was gearing up to say more, only for certain items around the room to start shaking, he sighed as he looked at Rey who, as he guessed, looked furious.

 

“Uh, Lady Macbeth, would you mind not having these storage bins River-dance? I don’t think our insurance covers it.” Drake said, having everyone look at him.

 

“I don’t think anyone in this room understood a single word you just said General,” Mitaka informed the General, who shrugged.

 

“It’s something my uncle Drago mentioned after he visited a planet on the far Outer Rims; it sounded weird enough to snap Rey out of her temper.” Rey glared at her teacher before leaving the store room. Knowing that Mitaka and Drake would handle things on the bridge, Hux went after Rey and found her in their quarters. She appeared to be at their kitchenette, pulling out bowls, utensils, and boxes.

 

“What are you doing little moon?” Hux used his little nickname for Rey as he saw her as his ray of moonlight; a beautiful thing he could look at endlessly without fear of going blind.

 

“Baking; General Karnak said that sometimes my anger delves too deeply into the Dark Side, therefore putting those around me in danger. So, he told me to take up a hobby apart from fighting, he suggested baking or knitting.” Hux coughed into his fist at the idea of his little moon knitting of all things and wondered how hard she had slugged him for that comment. Now that he thought of it, two weeks ago he had seen Karnak walking around with a fat lip; he had simply assumed he got it whilst sparring with Drake.

 

“How come I don’t see you bake then?”

 

“I practice with Doph, he told me that he would often help his grandmother bake as his parents saw him as a nuisance. He says that it’s a bit better to bake when you’re mad than cook, as cooking will often take your emotions into it. He reasoned that baking was better as it was more exact than cooking, therefore, you concentrate on your measurements and eventually, you forget what you were angry about.” Rey said as she seemed to be deciding between making something chocolate and something with a little tartness. The lemon bar recipe Mitaka gave her was still fresh in her mind so she decided on that.

 

“You often spend your down time with Mitaka, and just now you called him Doph, should I be jealous?” Hux asked, only partially joking. Rey rolled her eyes at him and instead of replying asked,

 

“Do you like lemon bars or a lemon pound cake? I want to make sure you’ll actually eat this if it turns out good.”

 

“I’ve never had either but I think the bars would be better as they would be easier to put away for later, whereas cakes can sometimes be tricky. Now, you want to tell me what has you so angry?” Rey sighed as she quickly made the crust for the bars as Mitaka had shown her.

 

“It’s just… you deserve to command your own ship without someone who is **_**_known_**_**  for throwing tantrums like a teething child breathing down your neck! It’s not fair that you should work so hard to get the bloody ship that you designed, and then that accomplishment tainted by only being a co-commander!” Rey exclaimed as she popped the crust in the oven and started on the filling.

 

“Rey, I may not be Force sensitive, but I get the feeling that, though that is a large part of what has you so angry, there is something else,” Hux stated as he took a cloth and wiped off some flour that had landed on her cheek.

 

“With Kylo Ren around, Finn and I won’t be able to practice with the Force in any way or he will feel it and probably go running to his master and something you forgot to mention to the ‘Troopers is that if Snoke finds out you hid **_**_two_**_**  Force users from him, you will most likely be killed.” Just then the timer went off and Rey pulled out her crust, then proceeded to pour the frothy filling over it and then popped it back in for another twenty-five minutes. Hux sighed as he drew her into his arms and tried to calm her, then heard a little ‘meow’ and looked over at their most recent addition; Millicent.

 

They had been receiving their latest shipment of supplies when Rey heard a faint crying in the shuttle. She had gone to investigate and found a two and a half week old ginger kitten, very frightened and very hungry. She had managed to calm the kitten enough to pick her up and bring her outside the shuttle, where Mitaka saw the two and quickly fetched some milk and a latex glove to help feed the kitten. Hux had asked the commander of the shuttle about the kitten who replied the poor thing must have wandered onto the shuttle whilst they were loading, as kittens that age were often very curious, and they took off before she could get off. Hux thought about sending the cat back planet side when Rey had handed her to him so she could remove her out robe as the kitten seemed to be trying to curl into them. The little fuzzball had looked at him with big green eyes, and he tried to remain firm, only for Rey to give him big puppy eyes, causing him to look down again, and the fuzzball had the audacity to lick his nose. What could he say? Mitaka had quickly managed to acquire them everything they needed; from cat food to toys (including a scratching post) and a litter-box, which a service droid came into clean every day, just to make sure Hux wouldn’t get mad and Rey could stay happy. A mental image then popped up; Kylo Ren trying to drag Rey away, screaming that she would make a wonderful Knight of Ren, only for the droids to start attacking him, and Millicent to jump on his head, both refusing to let their mistress to be taken from them, and for good measure, Mitaka attacked the Knight with a frying pan. At Rey’s snort, Hux realized he must have been projecting, and laughed with her.

 

“We’ll figure out something Rey, I promise.”

 

**_**_One Week Later_ ** _ **

 

Hux, Rey, Phasma, Finn, Drake, and Karnak all stood on the landing pad, awaiting the arrival of Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren. His shuttle landed about ten minutes after they had arrived; meaning they had been early or this upstart didn’t bother to keep track of people’s schedules. When he descended, Rey had to admit, this Knight was certainly… imposing; he was tall, almost as tall as Phasma, but his sheer bulk made him seem impossibly bigger.

 

“Lord Ren, as the highest ranked officer here, I welcome you and yours to **_**_The Endeavor_**_**.” General Drake welcomed Kylo Ren, and was not unaware of the stare directed at himself and General Karnak; the Knights of Ren had never quite gotten along with their brand of users, actually more geared towards the military than religious efforts. As his father always explained it ‘Religion is simply one of those things my son; there are probably people out there who believe in what you believe in, but you are far more likely to run across those that hate you for your religion, so merely talk about the facts that brought you into contact, and leave any religious talk for your quarters’. Of course, the Knights had trouble with this philosophy, in their minds, if you were a Force User, you should believe what they believed or you were no better than a Jedi. He then ignored Drake and Karnak and turned to Hux.

 

“Colonel Hux.” Rey had to stop herself from reacting to the modulated voice; how high pitched must his voice be, to have to be that deep with the helmet? She also fought not to react to his casual dismissal of her teachers; **_**_this_**_**  was what she would have to live with for the foreseeable future?

 

“Lord Ren, allow me to introduce my commanding officers. This is Captain Phasma, she is in command of the platoon of Stormtroopers stationed here for the purpose of confrontation and civilian raids. This is Captain Finn, he is the commander of our Death Walkers-” Before Hux could continue, Ren interrupted with,

 

“The boy who wouldn’t fire upon civilians, why? You should have been decommissioned when you failed and yet you were given your own command, why?” Hux went to explain, but Finn spoke up, his voice only slightly modulated by his helmet.

 

“I did not fire on the civilians in the simulation, Lord Ren, because there was no military advantage to be had; I will fire upon soldiers who threaten the way of the First Order, but I will not open fire upon unarmed civilians whose only crime is to occupy a space required by the First Order.”

 

“Then what good are you at keeping these people from rebelling?” Here, Phasma spoke up,

 

“My ‘Troopers handle those things Lord Ren; Captain Finn’s ‘Troopers handle important military outposts or outposts with important military figures. They have yet to miss a target.” Ren looked at the two who refused to back down, then turned back to Hux and said,

 

“These two are overdue for reconditioning.” She felt Drake try to keep her silent, but Rey spoke up.

 

“We don’t recondition anymore; we have found it was actually detrimental to the soldiers’ so High Command has slowly been reducing it, and replaced it with a firm commitment to the Order. We found that those who were reconditioned too often exhibited signs of substance abuse, recklessness, sociopathy, psychopathy, suicide ideation, just to name a few.” Ren then turned and looked at her and though she couldn’t see his face, she could hear his contempt for her.

 

“The girl I’ve heard so much about; the scavenger from Jakku who has been turning the First Order on its ear.”

 

“That would be Colonel Hux, Lord Ren, I merely watch his back to keep him safe.”

 

“And yet you go on missions with FN-2187 and-”

 

“Finn.” Rey could see Drake and Karnak both face-palm at her blatant disrespect, but she knew Hux was not angry with her, as he would have told her as such.

 

“What?”

 

“He hasn’t gone by FN-2187 in almost three years; he received the rank of captain as well as a name, and that is Captain Finn.”

 

“Yet you have been with the colonel for just over four years and you still do not have a surname, Rey of Jakku.” Rey would have scoffed, but even she knew that was one step too far, as well as what she truly wanted to say, so she merely said,

 

“Why bother with family names? He is Captain Finn, commander of the Death Walkers, a group that is quickly becoming infamous amongst the resistance. She is Captain Phasma, commander of a platoon of Stormtroopers with an efficiency rating far above those even stationed on the Star Destroyers. He is Colonel Hux, the man who designed **_**_The Finalizer_**_**  as well as the new super weapon that is currently in production, as well as threw out a flawed system his sire created and the efficiency of the First Order has only increased. I am Rey of the First Order, who has killed more than a couple who tried to assassinate the Colonel and have assassinated more than a few who would stand in the way of the First Orders advancement. Three of us have no family names and none us need them, we get where we want to go by our own merit, we do not need the crutch of our family name in order to stand tall.” Karnak could feel Ren’s anger building at that last comment and wondered what it was about; maybe the Master of the Knights of Ren had been accused of using his family name to get ahead? It was difficult to say; much like the Sith, the Knights of Ren were given new names upon entry to their Order, so he had no idea who Kylo Ren was before slaughtering Luke Skywalker’s new Jedi Order and entering this order.

 

“Perhaps we should let the Captains get back to training their ‘Troopers whilst General Drake takes the bridge, the Colonel and I show Lord Ren around and Lady Rey reports to Lieutenant Mitaka for her physical training?” Karnak ground out the last part, only for Ren to intervene and say,

 

“ ** _ ** _Lady_**_**  Rey will accompany us on this tour; we wouldn’t want anything to happen to the Colonel, would we, **_**_my lady_**_**?” Rey didn’t like that insinuation one bit and dearly wanted to throw this ass across the room. Instead, she replied,

 

“As you will, **_**_Lord Ren_**_**.” Hux pinched the bridge of his nose before leading the ass out of the hangar bay, with Rey one step behind him, and Karnak followed, bemoaning the fact that since Drake really was better at running the day to day operations, **_**_he_**_**  had to be the one to join them.

 

“This is going to be **_**_fun_**_** ,” Drake told the two officers with him before heading to the bridge.

 

**_**_Later that night, in Kylo Ren’s room_ ** _ **

 

“The colonel runs a tight ship without being a tyrant, and the crew seems to genuinely respect him,” Kylo reported as he kneeled in front of the Holo of his master.

 

“Do you believe he could inspire this same level of respect in a partially new crew that hasn’t known him for four years? **_**_The Finalizer_**_**  is a great deal larger and will house a larger crew than **_**_The Endeavor_**_**. Of course, he will keep much of his old crew, if not all of them, as almost all the generals at High Command think it foolish to ‘break up a good thing.’” Snoke asked his apprentice.

 

“There would in all probability be some rough patches in the beginning, but I have no doubt they would come to respect him.” Ren didn’t want to admit it, but he did begrudgingly admit that the ginger had obviously gotten his rank and respect through his own achievements, not by his father’s name. Said father, whose name now lay in the mud thanks to the bastard son he barely acknowledged, when said bastard had shown that reconditioning the soldiers time and time again was actually weakening their ranks instead of strengthening them.

 

“I want to see how he responds to different scenarios; Targon IV is nearby and from what Admiral Du’lock tells me, we have been negotiating a trade agreement with them for quite some time with little success. Inform Colonel Hux that he is to head to Targon IV and see if he can aid the negotiations in any way. Now, onto another subject, what about his bodyguard?” Ren did not bother to keep the sneer off his face.

 

“She is nothing; a hot-headed little desert rat.”

 

“And yet, when she and the Death Walkers patrol a hostile planet, within forty-eight hours, the natives are all but begging for a trade agreement to sign in order to get them off their planet. Even you, heir of Darth Vader, need **_**_at least_**_**  seventy-two hours before that occurs, and you leave a far bloodier path in your wake. I believe you should count yourself fortunate that the girl does not **_**_appear_**_**  to be Force sensitive, otherwise that ‘hot-headed little desert rat’ could very well defeat you and take your place. She can run the ship in the Colonel’s absence for up to a week, she can kill without anyone realizing she is there, she can pilfer through a person’s life and belongings without being seen or leaving any kind of trace, and Admiral Du’lock showed me what she did to someone who threatened her mate; it was not a pretty picture.” That last sentence caught his attention.

 

“Mate?”

 

“Yes boy, **_**_mate_**_**. It’s rumored that their relationship started not long after he assumed command of **_**_The Endeavor_**_**.” Kylo quickly did the math in his head and was slightly ill at the implications.

 

“But that would make her about fourteen!” Snoke shrugged

 

“The First Order does not care about such things as she is not an officer nor connected to the First Order in such a way to make things awkward. If the reports are to be believed, the Colonel’s personal efficiency started going up even more when the two started mating, so High Command could truly care less, so long as it does not damage their image. If it eases your conscience any, know that the girl has always been a most willing partner in their acts, and they did not engage in physical intercourse until last year.” This did little to ease Kylo Ren’s mind as sixteen was not a legal age for sex on most civilized planets, and for all he knew, she could simply go along with it because her patron liked it.

 

“But during the negotiations, I want you to watch the two carefully, see just how devoted they are to one another. Then, depending on your observations, next week, I shall let slip **_**_The Endeavor_**_** ’s location to a resistance ship, who shall attack them. You will seize the girl and hide her somewhere, taking care to watch what Colonel Hux does in response to this attack and the disappearance of his bodyguard/mate.” Ren admitted to himself he didn’t like that idea; the girl and he did not appear to get along if their first meeting was anything to go by, but he wouldn’t want to scare her as a test for Hux. Maybe he could simply knock her out and hide her in his room, making sure to secure the door in case the resistance got lucky and boarded them. Again, he wasn’t overly fond of the girl, but he wouldn’t let rebel scum hurt her whilst she was unable to defend herself (especially since he would be the reason she would be unable to defend herself).

 

“It will be as you wish it, my master.” About four days later found Hux, Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn, Slip and a couple more Troopers landing on Targon IV to see if they could help speed negotiations along. As the two parties talked back and forth, Kylo kept his interest on Rey and Hux; Rey, for the most part, appeared terribly bored, but he noticed that whenever an odd noise would crop up, she would flash her eyes to where the sound had come from, whilst maintaining a bored expression. When one of the Targonians asked Rey if they were boring her, Kylo listened as she recited the conversation of the last ten minutes word for word and sound for sound, showing that she may look bored, but her mind was paying attention to everything. When it seemed like they were getting nowhere, the Targonians started shouting that the First Order was being unreasonable, Hux calmly stood and motioned for Captain Finn to step forward. Kylo wondered briefly if he was going to have this Captain shoot the disagreeable senators, but instead, the Captain removed his helmet and spoke in a calm but firm voice.

 

“The First Order has offered you a special fertilizer that will not only help your crops grow strong enough to resist the harsh weather of your planet but also increase production of said crops by at least 15%, and when one is produced that shall yield even greater numbers, it shall be given to you. This, we offer for the material your planet produces that helps insulate our hyperdrives, which keeps them from overheating and exploding; a material that your planet produces so much of, it has little to no value to you, especially since your people have little to no desire to leave their planet. The First Order is giving you something you desperately need, in exchange for something that has the same value to you as dirt to us.”

 

“Our scientists are working on the same thing.” The adviser to the senator argued, trying to look smug.

 

“Yes, and they’ve been working on it for three years and all you’ve managed to accomplish is some plants that glow in the dark, not fit for consumption. The First Order has what you need today; in just one harvest, you would have enough for your planet with a little extra should unforeseen situations arise. By delaying these negotiations, you are only causing your people to starve another year as the time for your sowing draws ever closer; there are other planets that produce the same materials, and would welcome extra produce to sell for another source of income.”

 

“And yet you come to our planet.” Rey was tempted to smack the adviser with her Bo staff just to get him to shut up. She felt Ren in her mind, causing her to tense up, but he merely said

 

/ _ _I know it’s tempting, but the senator himself seems to be listening to your pet Stormtrooper; give him another five minutes, then you can smack the adviser.__ /

 

“Yes, because you **_**_need_**_**  what we’re offering so we thought you would be willing to trade like civilized individuals. If however, you wish to look strong to your hungry people, we can easily call down a platoon or two of Stormtroopers along with a few of our Tie-Fighters, focus on decimating what little farm land you’ve managed to cultivate, and take what we want in but a few hours.” Kylo was impressed with what he heard; the Stormtrooper had more balls than he had given the man credit for. Kylo saw the guards seemingly get ready to attack as the adviser said with a smug smirk,

 

“What makes you think you’ll get to call that command?” Finn looked at the guards who were holding Z6 batons and replied,

 

“Mak toko.” Immediately, over half a dozen previously unseen Stormtroopers in Finn’s strange armor appeared, stunned the guards and held the senator and his staff at blaster point. Here, Hux took over again.

 

“We can destroy you in a heartbeat, could have done so without these annoying negotiations, but the First Order is not tyrannical. If things can be solved peacefully, we like to try that option first. Now, can we negotiate, or should I inform your replacement to get in here and take over?” The senator waved his hand and sat down.

 

“How much land would one bag of that fertilizer cover? Just so our people do get a fair trade; as your soldier stated, we don’t have much and we must make sure that our people do get a fair deal for what we do have or they will only stay hungry.” The adviser tried one last time,

 

“But sire-!”

 

“Pipe down Hupka; our people need this fertilizer more than that metal, and I have no doubt they would carry out their threats if you continue to push them. If you had kept quiet, this whole matter could have been settled over a week ago!” The senator snapped at his adviser; he was not going to put his people in any more danger than they most likely already were simply so this twit could get some sort of credit or whatever he was after. Hux, deciding that Ren, having seen Finn in action, should now see Rey in action, just not as his bodyguard, replied,

 

“So that you have a full understanding of the fertilizer and how it should be used, I will hand the floor to the one who developed it. Lady Rey?” Ren was shocked; this girl, whom he had dismissed as a brainless fighter, had developed this new type of fertilizer they were now bargaining with? He watched as she blushed as all eyes turned to her and he heard her whisper to Hux

 

“You never even gave me an inkling I would be talking!” But she sat down across from the Senator.

 

“ ** _ ** _You_**_**  created this new fertilizer, child? You seem to be barely out of childhood.” Rey could imagine how he would think that; everyone on their planet, once they reached maturity, was well over seven feet tall.

 

“I like plants sir, but growing them on a starship is not an easy feat so I needed something that would survive the harsh conditions of outer space. I looked through many manuals and tried many variants but everything I tried, the plant grew but it looked so sickly, so I experimented and before I knew it, I had come up with this fertilizer. 15% is all I’ve managed in the way of quantity as well as quality, but I am hopeful that my next experiment will yield as much as 25%. As for how to use it, you should really use it sparingly per square foot as too much causes the crops in question to grow very large but you lose much of the flavor, another thing I’m hoping to fix with…” Kylo didn’t understand much in the way of the science behind it, but he now realized how foolish he had been upon his arrival; he called Finn useless because he wouldn’t open fire on civilians as well as inferred Rey was worthless for being without a name, when she was proving herself right; they didn’t need names. By the end of it, both parties were extremely satisfied, and the senator was most enchanted with Rey, asking them to stay the night for a celebratory meal to toast this alliance. Later that night, Kylo had gone to get Hux and Rey at their appointed room, and was rather surprised at what he saw; Hux’s dress uniform looked like it had been painted on and simply put, the man looked good in black and the silver inlay that decorated the shoulders and collar of his uniform brought out the silver and gold in his eyes. Rey, on the other hand, was wearing a white dress with dark red lace that was sewn in to look like crimson waves splashing on a coast line. Hux had nothing apart from the medals he had earned in the way of jewelry, and Rey had on a simple pair of emerald earrings that made her own green eyes sparkle.

 

“Do I have to wear this? I look like a girl!” Hux raised an eyebrow at her in the mirror as he braided her hair, as well as sharing a glance with Ren.

 

“You better brace yourself Rey; I have a news flash for you, you **_**_are_**_**  a girl.” Kylo did his best to quell his laughter; who knew these two could actually be fun to be around when Hux didn’t have a stick up his ass and Rey wasn’t looking at him like he was about to skewer her kitten?

 

“You know what I mean; those glitzy, tittering, brainless twits we often see at these kind of things. They never want to talk about interesting things like engines, speeders or anything remotely scientific; only who they’re banging this week.”

 

“Yes well, at least looking like this, those same air-heads may leave me alone so I can actually enjoy myself tonight instead of trying to entice me to their beds. Now, why don’t you get a breath of fresh air before we have to deal with them?” Rey nodded as Hux released her and she left the room.

 

“Something you need, Lord Ren?”

 

“Not particularly, I thought it would look good if the three of us arrived together. Not to mention I owe both Lady Rey and Captain Finn an apology.” Hux rose an eyebrow at that; he had imagined Ren may treat the two better if he saw what they were capable of, but he never dreamed Ren would actually **_**_apologize_**_**.

 

“Indeed, well, if I may suggest, you could simply apologize to both of them at the same time, to save yourself from repetition.” So, Ren escorted Hux and Rey to the ballroom, where they were all introduced and Ren found a corner for himself to watch everything until dinner was served. He frankly hated this part and judging by the vibes coming from Rey and Finn, they were the same way, not that Hux was much better, he seemed like he would much rather have celebrated with Rey in their quarters than be down here, but he had his part to play. What interested Kylo was the sudden spike in irritation, and he looked over to see Hux and Rey close to three women huddled, and apparently one of them had just made a disparaging about one of the two, because he could just make out Hux holding Rey back, then motioning her to the balcony. She left, after nodding to the Stormtrooper named ‘Slip’, another pet of hers, and two other Stormtroopers, obviously they would look after Hux whilst she was cooling down. What surprised most people was that Kylo was able to slip out of sight and move silently rather well, considering his size, though he noticed Finn watching him closely, he too left for the same balcony.

 

“Something wrong, Lady Rey?” Kylo’s tone held none of the previous contempt or scorn from before, instead, he was openly curious.

 

“I’m used to be looked down upon for my size, it’s something that I became used to long ago; my smaller size made it easier to raid hulls or sneak around. But it’s a little harder not to take it personally when you work so hard on something, and people still don’t recognize you.”

 

“I take it those women said something unpleasant?”

 

“Let’s just say I don’t appreciate the term ‘bastards pet rat’. I hate being called a rat and I hate it when they call Hux a bastard in that sense. Don’t get me wrong, he can be a bastard and when he is, I **_**_will_**_**  call him on it, but I think he should be called it for something he’s **_**_done_**_** , not because his father was too mentally deficient to wear a condom or make sure his servant was on birth control.” Ren could understand those feelings; even if he didn’t like the man, it was because in the past few days, he had seen the man was a stickler for rules (those he chose to obey apparently), but it was foolish to call the man’s breeding into question, if he could get the job done and advance the First Order, who cared if his parents were married or not? As for the rat comment, well…

 

“Did you know that on some planets, the rat is held in very high esteem? It’s true,” Kylo added at her dubious look, “it is associated with so many positive traits, it leaves other animals in the dust.”

 

“Such as what?” Rey decided to humor him.

 

“Well, just to name a few, the rat has been associated with adaptability, confidence, courage, creativity, curiosity, defense, determination, endurance, intelligence, family, gentleness, grace, independence, joy, love, loyalty, protection, strength, survival, wisdom; I could go on,” Kylo added as she looked at him in shock, before pulling herself together and saying,

 

“It still has a tail that looks like a worm.” Kylo chuckled, though his helmet made it sound weird.

 

“And at the end of the day, it is simply a tail, the only difference between it and the one your fuzzball has, is that your fuzzballs has fur on it, but the rat puts hers to far greater use than your cat.” Rey was looking up at him and for a moment, Kylo could see the scavenger she would always be, mix with what Hux wanted of her; someone to keep an eye on him, someone to help his career, but most importantly, someone whom he could love without fear of betrayal and could love him, faults and all; a companion.

 

“Lady Rey?” Both turned and looked at Captain Finn had come onto their balcony.

 

“Yes, Captain?” Ren could tell they were only using their titles because he was around, but there was simply no way of telling them they could dispense with them.

 

“I came to make sure you were alright; you seemed rather… frazzled.” Translation: I saw Kylo Ren follow you in your moment of weakness onto the balcony and came to make sure he wasn’t attacking you in any way.

 

“I am much better now, thank you, Captain.” The boy nodded and turned to leave, only for Kylo to remember he owed these two an apology.

 

“A moment, Captain Finn.” The use of both title and name caught everyone’s attention, so Finn turned back to Ren.

 

“Yes, Lord Ren?”

 

“I feel I owe both you and Lady Rey an apology for how I treated you both upon my arrival.”

 

“There truly is no need sir; you had only ever heard of us so-”

 

“That is precisely why I **_**_must_**_**  apologize; I had never met either of you and therefore I made assumptions on both of your characters, seeing only the picture of you that other, lesser and jealous individuals had painted. I had not been told of your negotiation abilities, Captain, or your scientific research, Lady Rey, and instead of reserving judgment until I had seen the two of you in action for myself, I made an ass of myself.” The two looked at each other in surprise; they certainly had not expected the Master of the Knights of Ren to admit to such a thing! They both knew that such a thing could not be easy to admit, and so they both simply nodded, before Rey asked,

 

“Do you dance, Lord Ren?” Kylo turned sharply to look at her; nobody ever asked him to dance, they all thought he was a lumbering brute who would step on their toes.

 

“Do you?” Rey couldn’t help but laugh as she responded,

 

“But of course; what better way to watch Hux’s back than to have my arm wrapped around it?” Kylo Ren then escorted Lady Rey back into the hall on his arm, and the two engaged in a waltz as Finn went to report to the Colonel.

 

“Yes?”

 

“The two were simply talking, and it looked like he was actually comforting her after the comments made about your lineage and her… upbringing.” Hux was surprised at this though he didn’t show it; he knew Ren wanted to apologize but for him to comfort Rey well, maybe Ren had not been the only one to jump to conclusions about his character.

 

“Whose idea was it to dance?” Hux asked as he gave Finn a passing glass of champagne.

 

“Hers; I think she was trying to convey her gratitude over both his comfort as well as his apology, you know she isn’t the most comfortable with words.” Hux simply nodded; Rey had all but been conditioned by him to express her affection physically, whereas her displeasure was expressed vocally. Well, if there was even a chance for the two to get along, as well as himself and Ren, he might as well encourage it; they would be on the same ship for the foreseeable future. Since the negotiations proved they were not only efficient but ruthless, Ren informed Snoke there was no need for the second test; Hux and his crew were the ones they wanted for **_**_The Finalizer_**_**. So a month later, **_**_The Endeavor_**_**  was docked at the same space station as **_**_The Finalizer_**_**  as the crew slowly moved their belongings and themselves to their new ship. Kylo looked over and saw Rey holding Millicent, looking rather dejected, he imagined it had to do with the knowledge General Drake and General Karnak would not be joining them on **_**_The Finalizer_**_** ; there was simply no reason for them to be there. He was sorry for her as he had seen how close the girl was to them, especially General Drake, but there truly was nothing to be done. He gave them privacy as the two Generals said goodbye to Lady Rey, Captain Finn, and **_**_General_**_**  Hux; Captain Phasma and Lieutenant Mitaka already having gone on ahead to make sure everything was set up properly.

 

“Now, now, Rey, this isn’t goodbye forever, just, goodbye for a little while,” Drake said as he hugged his apprentice, Karnak didn’t seem to want to let go of his apprentice either.

 

“It’s bad enough Finn and I won’t be able to practice with the Force, but knowing you two won’t be around just makes it worse,” Rey mumbled as her newest Droid, BB-9, whirled around, trying to cheer up her mistress. BB-9 had been bought as a present for Rey after Hux had become General as well as receiving the news about Drake and Karnak. After Rey had finished building her and she came online, the Droid was simply fascinated with Rey and adored her.

 

“Well, Karnak may have come up with a solution for that actually,” Drake said and Karnak reluctantly released his apprentice to grab a special case he had kept hidden from Ren.

 

“You two, keep these bands around your wrists; they’ll allow you to train without your powers sending up too much of a flare, as well as making sure you don’t slip up in front of him. Of course, if an emergency should arise, the bands shall break and your full powers will come out at full force. If Ren gets out of control, snap this collar around his neck and it will cut off his connection to the Force. Finally, for the three of you, a special armor that will slip under your clothes; it will stop Ren from dragging you around or trying to choke you. Of course, it won’t stop a lightsaber, but if that happens, hopefully you’ll have some dirt on him to keep him from talking about your own lightsabers.” Again, the two apprentices hugged their unofficial master and Hux shook both of their hands; these two had given him plenty of headaches over the last four years, but they had also always helped immensely, and he knew Rey and Finn were going to miss them.

 

“Now, we have just one last piece of advice for each of you, then we shall let you all be on your way. First, Finn,” Finn looked at Karnak and Karnak said,

 

“Kylo Ren has seen your skill at negotiating, so he may lay off you, or he might start nit-picking at you in a few months time. If that happens, challenge him to a fight with one of the Z6’s and remind him just why you are the current champion of the Z6’s on **_**_The Endeavor_**_** , soon to be, **_**_The Finalizer_**_**.” Finn smirked at his title of champion; Slip had dubbed him as such two years ago and no one was allowed to forget it. Phasma was still the best with a blaster, but Finn was number one when it came to the Z6’s.

 

“Hux, you will have to keep a tight reign on everything since Ren might seem calm, but I don’t think your fellow officers were exaggerating when they said he has the worse temper of all Knights. And don’t let him push you around either; that uppercut of yours is nothing to laugh at.” Hux couldn’t contain his own smirk at that; he had gotten so mad at Drake’s continual blase nature to everything, he finally punched him and knocked him out cold.

 

“Finally, Rey, our little Scavenger who started all of this because she couldn’t let four nameless Stormtroopers get crush, always remember; whenever someone says you are not worth all the time and effort we have all put into you, that you are nothing more than a grubby little desert rat that doesn’t belong here, remember these words. The Devil whispered, you cannot weather this storm; and the Warrior replied, I **_**_am_**_**  the Storm.”

 

“Not to mention, A king bows only to his queen,” Karnak whispered to Rey with a wink, causing Rey and Hux to both blush, before sending them and Finn onto **_**_The Finalizer_**_** , and the next step of their destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, this wasn’t supposed to be much of anything; just something to pass the time whilst waiting for inspiration on ‘Last Rats Standing’. But here is chapter three, with Finn having his own saber, Rey and Hux in a relationship, Kylo Ren is with them on The Finalizer, and we’ve seen the last of Drake and Karnak for now. This story is only 22 days old, and at the time of posting has 37 kudos, over 500 hits, and at least two devoted readers, so big shout-out to flynalien and Drica, but especially to flynalien; your suggestion for Finn inspired a sizable chunk of this chapter, and I hope you like that little development of Rey’s! I wouldn’t count on any new material for awhile; tomorrow I’m going to the CNE and the day after that, I’ll be heading down to Niagara On The Lake for some desperate R&R from work. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter!


	4. Revelations Abound for Ren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux has the Finalizer and Rey; Rey has Hux, Millicent, and Finn; Finn has Rey and the Death Walkers; Ren has... nothing and nobody apparently. But what he will have soon is respect for Rey and Hux, and maybe their respect too before this chapter is done.

Disclaimer: If I owned this, do you really think I would have killed off Han Solo of all people?

 

****Chapter 4** **

****

If there was one thing the new members of **_**_The Finalizer_**_**  learned, it was to not mock Rey within hearing distance of any of **_**_The Endeavor_**_** ’s old crew. The new Stormtroopers and even some of the Technicians seemed to like her right off the bat, seeing as how when she wasn’t training with her new Electrostaff (a gift from General Maboo after she heard about Kylo Ren becoming co-commander of **_**_The Finalizer_**_** ) or her old Vibroblade, she would often converse or share a meal with them. Truth be told, it was the officers themselves that seemed to have a problem with her as she was receiving a very good pay for not only being Hux’s bodyguard, but also a scientist (that fertilizer alone had earned her quite the bonus). One Lieutenant had been stupid enough to say something along the lines of, ‘she makes money worthy of a Major from what Janice in accounts tells me, and all she has to do is spread her legs!’, but before the fool could continue, one of the Technicians, a Mark, Matt, something like that, tackled the idiot.

 

Unfortunately for the fool, his punishment did not end at the humiliation of being thoroughly trounced by a nerd with thick glasses (and one weird devotion to Kylo Ren). Instead, both Kylo Ren and Hux heard about the fight, and the cause of it, and neither were pleased, with Hux assigning the man to perform maintenance on every Tie-Fighter in the hangar. Kylo Ren heard the man mentally call Rey many unsavory terms in his head as he performed his punishment, and so he called the man to his rooms; the man never thought badly of anyone ever again. This wasn’t to say that Ren automatically respected everything about her; once he found out she had never officially attended an anti-interrogation class, he insisted on running one himself on her, which Hux tried to argue against, but Ren won out as he pointed out that, as a scientist and bodyguard, she simply had too much information not to be trained.

 

“The General has explained to you what this exercise is for as well as what you need to do, correct?” Ren asked as Rey was set up in one of the interrogation cells. She rolled her eyes as she glared at him.

 

“Yes, it’s to prove to **_**_you_**_**  that if I’m ever captured, I can handle what the resistance throws at me and not crack. To that end, the General has given me a secret word or number and my job is to keep **_**_you_**_**  from finding it out.” Ren nodded as he checked the restraints, making sure they were good and tight. An interrogation Droid then came inside but stopped short at the sight of Rey in the chair, and made a curious beeping noise.

 

“Please tell me you have not made **_**_friends_**_**  with our interrogation Droids?” Ren asked, causing Rey to smirk at him and say,

 

“I’m not telling you anything.” Ren huffed and replied,

 

“We’ll see.” Rey then assured the Droid that she was to be tortured by him and Kylo Ren for ‘information’ and he was to go full out in trying to get her to talk, as resistance Droids probably wouldn’t be so accommodating, causing the Droid to make a comment about all Droids loving Rey. Ren was concerned that since this Droid appeared to like Rey, it would hold back, but it didn’t; Rey was bloody and panting after an hour, but she still refused to give up her secret. Ren even tried forcing large amounts of water into her to make her uncomfortable, but when she had to go, she simply released it, and Ren had to admit; most First Order officers he had come across, would sooner admit they needed re-education on the subject then wet themselves in front of the enemy. Unknown to Rey, Ren silently commed a service Droid to grab another pair of trousers (or a skirt might be better if she had one) for Rey from her room for when they were finished.

 

“You either have a strong will or no shame; not many would sully themselves in front of their enemy.” Rey finally said something different when she replied,

 

“I am proud, but I’m not going to let someone shame me about my bodies needs, such as urinating; if you don’t like the smell, there’s the door.” If she wasn’t so infuriating about it all, Ren could actually like her.

 

“Maybe I should leave you here, in your sullied uniform, alone, whilst I go get something to eat, we’ve been in here for a few hours now.”

 

“You might want to think about getting your bucket checked out if you think either tactic will work on me; I may not have an accurate count to the minute, but I **_**_know_**_**  we have been in here for just over an hour. As for food? What would you know about starvation? Once, on Jakku, I had to go four days without food because my **_**_guardian_**_**  said I hadn’t scavenged anything good enough to warrant a portion. Do you know how old I was? Eight. What were you doing when you were eight years old? Probably getting hugs and kisses from your mommy and daddy.” **_**_That_**_**  struck a nerve as Ren backhanded her before all but screaming

 

“SHUT UP! Do you think the Knights of Ren are some find of fun club?! We are trained hard in the ways of the Force, something you will never understand!” Rey smirked as she spat out her bloody saliva and replied,

 

“And for that I am **_**_glad_**_** ; look how pathetic you and your Knights are, no matter how a situation turns out you say ‘it was the will of the Force’, never taking the blame when you screw up and never giving credit when one of your troops comes up with a brilliant strategy. Hux disciplines his troops when they’ve screwed up and rewards them when they have done something well, and you know why? Because they accomplished something under their own power, they didn’t need a crutch like ‘the Force’ to help them because they were too weak to get the job done themselves.” Ren again backhanded her and listened to the Droid beep angrily at him.

 

“You know he only started a physical relationship with you as a means to bind you to him?!” Instead of being shocked, Rey scoffed.

 

“Do you think I’m blind? Hux is a borderline, high-functioning sociopath, of **_**_course_**_** , he entered into a physical relationship as a means to an end. Why should I care what his motives are? He gives me food, shelter, an area to conduct my experiments, free reign on my activities, lets me keep Millicent; there is no downside to this relationship. And, just to help you look a little **_**_less_**_**  stupid than you have this whole ‘interrogation’, **_**_I_**_**  started the physical aspect of our relationship; I kissed him first.” This shocked Ren, but then he thought about how he was at fourteen; he had been highly curious too, and experimented with his… never mind.

 

“So it doesn’t bother you he took advantage of your naivete? Your vulnerability?” Rey shrugged as best she could in the restraints,

 

“On Jakku, you saw something you wanted, you grabbed it with both hands, you didn’t wait for someone else to take it away. All I have ever asked is that, if he needs to fuck someone else, whether for the First Order or his own advancement, just don’t do it on the bed we sleep together on; do it on theirs.” Ren was a little shocked at such a Sith mentality, but recovered and said,

 

“I’m done fooling around; you resisted physical torture, and that is to be commended, but you can’t keep me out of your head.” Ren then raised his arm so it was at eye level and went into her mind, though he would admit that he was a touch harsher than he normally was, though he refused to admit she had gotten under his skin.

 

In Rey’s own mind she was freaking out; how much of a shield should she have? None? No, that would seem unlikely, being around two Force users for so long, she would at least have something. Should she give the appearance of struggling, only to finally surrender? No, her pride wouldn’t allow for that. Why the frack did she put the memory behind the same wall that held the memories as her training?! She should have known he would pull this stunt! She could feel him chipping at her wall, trying to get the word by ramming her shields, giving her a powerful headache, making her itch to let loose some of her own power and teach him a thing or two. Instead of that, she thought about what kind of memories she **_**_could_**_**  safely show without fear; her time on Jakku before Hux? No, still too dangerous and besides, the sadistic bastard would probably enjoy her suffering. She then got an idea; it was crazy and absurd, but it might just freak Ren out enough to get him to back off.

 

Ren was begrudgingly impressed by what he saw; Drake and Karnak must have taught mental shielding to a lot of people aboard **_**_The Endeavor_**_** , and this one seemed to take to it like a fish to water. However, he could feel her panic as he started to breach her defenses, and thought to assure her afterwards that she did have decent defenses in her mind, just nothing strong enough to keep out Darth Vader’s heir. These were his thoughts when all of a sudden, he was besieged by images that he truly doubted had anything to do with whatever the General told her; unless the General had one perverted mind, but something was telling him these were actual memories, not fantasies. He saw memories of the two making out in just their underclothes, the loss of Rey’s virginity, the time Rey was riding Hux’s cock whilst he was tied down to the bed with a blindfold on and a dildo shoved up his-

 

“Enough!” Ren shouted as he all but threw himself out of her mind and slammed into a wall. Both were left panting before the restraints unlocked and Rey fell to the floor.

 

“Interesting… defense mechanism; most would not think to show such intimate moments.” Rey did her best to shrug as she tried to stand, though she couldn’t help but notice he had drawn her **_**_away_**_**  from the puddle of urine.

 

“I wanted you out of my head; I figured seeing two people being intimate would either turn you on or disgust you, either way, it would distract you, allowing me to boot you out, though you ran before that could happen.” Before Ren could snap back his reply, Hux, Phasma, Finn, and a service Droid came in. Rey smiled at RX-Q2, who was constantly in competition with BB-9 to be of service to Rey, as he wheeled himself in with a black skirt on top of his head. Q2 then proceeded to scold the interrogation Droid for his behavior, with Rey silently trying to break the two up.

 

“I assume Rey met with your satisfaction, Lord Ren?” Hux asked as Phasma acted as support for Rey as she pulled off her wet trousers and underwear, slipping the skirt on. She smiled at Finn as he handed her some sanitary wipes to wipe off the worst from her legs until she could return to her quarters, as well as started applying Bacta on her wounds. Q2 took the trousers (slipping the underwear into a compartment so no one would see them), beeped angrily at Kylo Ren, then headed down to the laundry.

 

“She is… adequate at resisting interrogation techniques, General.” Ren, of course, had no way of knowing they had recorded the session and seen everything, from Rey riling him up, to him backhanding her.

 

“Including your mental tricks, which I seem to recall prohibiting you from using, as the resistance has so far been unable to find any Force users they could use against us.”

 

“Do not underestimate the-”

 

“See, that is a prime example of what I was talking about; you couldn’t break me physically, so you are justifying using them as though the resistance is going to pop up with a fully trained Jedi out of the woodwork. Not even Luke Skywalker or his father Anakin were able to use those tricks out of the blue, they had to be trained, and seeing as how Skywalker disappeared after you destroyed his academy, that leaves only his sister. A woman who may be able to use the Force like her father and brother, but is more interested in running things politically and militarily, not in using some kind of mental hocus-pocus.” Rey started having trouble breathing, and Hux looked like he wanted to kill Ren; **_**_this_**_**  was their ‘all-powerful’ weapon against the Resistance? A man who couldn’t take criticism? He was saved from commenting, however, as both Phasma and Finn raised their blasters before Phasma spoke,

 

“Release her, or we shall see just how fast you are able to stop two blaster bolts that are mere inches from you. From there, you will be dragged down and thrown into the brig until you have learned to control your temper. You have ten seconds to decide.” Ren dropped his hand and stormed out. Rey coughed a little as Finn helped her stand up straight.

 

“I swear, I can’t get a solid fix on that man; one moment he seems like he could be one of us, a true fighter for the First Order, and then he pulls a stunt like that!” Finn said, rather tired of Kylo Ren’s mood swings.

 

“It doesn’t help that we can’t use our powers on him without him knowing. I hate to sound like that overgrown toddler, but our abilities **_**_do_**_**  help in determining who we can really trust, especially Finn’s.” Rey complained as Hux was doing his best to look her over without hovering her.

 

“I know, I don’t like how he keeps insinuating our Stormtroopers are expendable, and he keeps **_**_insisting_**_**  Snoke should use a clone army; our soldiers have been trained to fight practically from birth!” This was a true sore spot for Phasma; she was proud of her Troopers (she couldn’t have been prouder of Finn if she was his mother), and to hear Kylo Ren of all people badmouth them, when he had barely been on a mission with any of hers, made her extremely angry. Hux leaned down and whispered to Rey,

 

“My shift has another hour left in it, so why don’t you go take a shower to loosen up your muscles, and then we can relax together?” Phasma made a slight gagging noise in her helmet.

 

“Something the matter, Captain?” Hux asked.

 

“Sorry sir, I was just clearing my throat.”

 

“Oh, shut up Phasma.”

 

“Mind your manners, brat.”

 

“Yes, Phas ** _ ** _mum_**_**.” Rey then ran from the interrogation room before Phasma had a chance to shoot her. Hux nodded to the two and then left for the bridge again.

 

“How can they **_**_not_**_**  see what they have?” Finn asked Phasma as they left the interrogation room; Hux had brought them along in case Ren proved to be more difficult than usual. Phasma shrugged at her former protege.

 

“One was raised to be a sociopath, possible psychopath, and the other spent her developmental years where letting your guard down was equal to a death sentence. They can’t express in words what they are to each other but, if you’ll allow me a sentimental thought, their hearts and souls know what they are, and that’s more than enough.” Finn glanced at Phasma before casually saying,

 

“If anyone found out about this side of you…”

 

“I would shoot your dick off.”

 

“Understood, Captain Phasmum. I mean-!”

 

“Captain Finn, in honor of all that you have done for the First Order, I shall give you a thirty-second head start.”

 

“I really wish I could use the Force right now!” If any of the officers/enlisted personnel who were not part of **_**_The Endeavor_**_**  saw Captain Phasma chasing and shooting at Captain Finn, they wisely kept it to themselves.

 

**_**_After the end of Hux’s shift, we find our two emotionally repressed idiots, I mean, General and Bodyguard in said General’s private quarters_ ** _ **

 

Hux knew he would never forget Rey’s face when he explained to her the purpose of a bathtub, or her words as she described it; the definition of decadence. He was currently relaxing in said definition, the water scented with eucalyptus and the room surrounded by the scent of peaches from the candle burning. Rey on top of him, her head resting on his shoulder, one arm wrapped around her, rubbing her back.

 

“Want to get drunk and fool around?” Rey asked, thoroughly soaking up all the affection she could; the Bacta had taken care of her physical wounds but Ren still did a number on her shields.

 

“Dearest, the last time you allowed yourself to get drunk, you almost burned down a cantina.” Hux chuckled as he lightly added his nails to his petting, watching as Rey curled tighter into him, practically purring.

 

“Yes, and I apologized for it, as well as swearing to watch my intake in the future, but it really hurt keeping Ren out; the guy is like a battering ram, no subtly at all. With Karnak, he could draw out every little secret you knew and even ones you forgot, and all whilst having a perfectly civil conversation with you, and you never even knew he was there!”

 

“I know; he and Drake would have thrown Ren out of an air-lock before allowing him anywhere near you with his barbaric tactics.” Hux knew he had an uphill battle ahead of him; Ren didn’t seem to respect anyone who wasn’t a Force user, and they didn’t dare reveal any of Rey or Finn’s powers, for fear he would go running to Snoke. He gently nudged Rey out of the tub, even as she pouted; the water was getting cold and the two of them were getting wrinkly, hardly conducive for after-tub fun. BB-9 came rolling in, toting a couple towels for them. Millicent loved playing with BB-9, though 9 didn’t appreciate being chased and scratched at like she was a dingle ball or something.

 

“He’s an annoying, opinionated, arrogant jerk, but I do feel a little sorry for him; from what I’ve seen, he doesn’t seem to overly like over half of the Knights of Ren, and he seems to have no interest in making friends with anybody here. So, that would make for an incredibly lonely person, as I rather doubt Snoke has time to listen to him very often throughout the day; he doesn’t even have a pet so at least there’s someone there who’s happy to see him at the end of the day.” Rey said as they came out of the fresher in their bathrobes, as they weren’t positive if they wanted to have sex or simply cuddle and sleep.

 

“Some people honestly prefer to be lonely,” Hux told her as he made sure his uniform was presentable for tomorrow before hanging it in the closet; Millicent loved rolling around in their clothes and sleeping in them.

 

“I don’t think I will ever understand preferring total loneliness over at least having a pet.” Rey hated being alone, it was why she tried so hard to be friends with the Stormtroopers and the Technicians, so when everyone else was busy, she at least had someone. Oh, she was a private person, don’t misunderstand that bit, and sometimes she had to be alone due to so many people being around her, but the idea of willfully stopping yourself from having any kind of contact? It made no sense to her at all. Hux was tired of Ren spoiling their day, so he pulled her closer and started nibbling on her neck.

 

“Do you want to be on top tonight or do you want to be a pillow princess?” Hux and her often switched positions, depending on their needs; if Hux felt like his work was spiraling out of control, he would be in charge and dictated everything to how fast he wanted Rey to stroke him, to how high he wanted Rey’s legs in the air. If he was having a day where he felt like he had a million things to do and only a half hour to get them done, he would let Rey take the reigns and she would remind him that he was where he was because he was the best, but also because they had the best crew. Rey was comfortable with either position, depending on what Hux wanted; seeing as how he wasn’t agitated, she knew he would be fine with either position as she had been the one to have a rough day.

 

“I, uh, I want to, um… Iwantyoutoeatmeoutfirst.” She quickly gushed out while blushing like a tomato.

 

“You want to what?” Hux knew what she wanted (there wasn’t much that sounded similar to **_**_that_**_** ), but he wanted her to say it; she was perfectly confident on the battlefield and when standing up to Kylo Ren, but when it came to the bedroom, she acted like a blushing virgin.

 

“I want you to eat me out first if you feel comfortable enough.”

 

“If that’s what my little moon wants.” As the General and his bodyguard laid down, neither noticed the small camera that, along with the one in the fresher, beamed direct footage to a receiver three rooms down. Kylo Ren had taken the opportunity in which he knew Hux and Rey would be out of their room to plant some cameras. Rey said she was the one to instigate the relationship, but did that really mean anything? After all, teenagers were curious, and it wasn’t unheard of for teenagers to seek out someone they trusted when their hormones were waking up and they wanted to experiment. At fourteen on a spaceship, there wasn’t really anybody close to her age, unless she went to one of the new Stormtroopers, and who better for her to trust, than the one who rescued her from Jakku? When Rey kissed him, he should have sent her to a Droid, or even one of the two generals, and had them explain what it all meant, instead, he decided to give her a demonstration.

 

He knew that many would raise an eyebrow at the camera in the ‘fresher, but he needed to be certain; if she wasn’t in the mood and went to go shower, would Hux leave her be, or would he force the issue? Instead, he had gotten into the bath and she laid down on top of him, and they just remained like that, apart from the fact their naked bodies were touching, there was no other contact. And then he heard them talking, and he wanted to tell them that harsh methods were what Snoke wanted; he could have entered her mind whilst they were arguing and she would never have known he was there. And then he heard the comment about being lonely, and again he thought about how there really was no one who was ever happy to see him; most people ran away from him if he gave them the chance to run. During his training, he had made friends with some of the Knights, but Snoke would often push him to work and train with those that despised him and would happily see him dead. Snoke would often tell him that positive connections lead to the light and therefore had to be avoided at all costs; but didn’t the Jedi believe that it was powerful emotions that drove a person to the Dark Side?

 

He redirected his attention as he saw Rey lay back on the bed and Hux hovered over her. Kylo was actually trying to correlate the hard-ass Hux on the bridge who seemed to bark out every word, with this soft, gentle person who was currently kissing his way down his lover’s chest, pausing for a moment to tickle her tummy. He had an incredibly soft smile at her giggle, and Kylo was struck dumb by what he was seeing; how could he be so harsh on the bridge, but so soft in the bedroom? He knew that he had to test these two physically; if he could show his superior skills in combat, then maybe they could all calm down, he respected their skills already (loathe as he was to admit), but he needed them to stop riling him up over the Force.

 

**_**_The Next Day_ ** _ **

 

“Let me see if I understand this correctly; my bodyguard showed you her mental fortitude yesterday by resisting your tricks, and now you want to test her **_**_and_**_** myself in combat?” Hux wondered if Rey had somehow scrambled the man’s brains when she showed him their intimate moments. The two of them had been in his office, going over duty logs when Ren barged in, neither was impressed by his lack of respect or the idiotic request/demand.

 

“Yes, the two of you believe I rely solely on the Force to complete my missions-”

 

“When was the last time you even started, let alone ended, a mission without somehow using the Force?” Rey interrupted.

 

“Were you always like this with Drake and Karnak?” Ren asked.

 

“No, they didn’t use the Force every time something didn’t go their way and they didn’t throw tantrums like a teething bantha, so I actually respected them.” Rey snarked back and Hux hoped that after this (regardless of what it was **_**_supposed_**_**  to prove), Ren would leave them alone, otherwise Rey was liable to throw him out an airlock.

 

“Let’s just get this over with; unarmed combat or can you fight with any weapon besides your lightsaber?” When Rey had first seen his lightsaber, she had said something along the lines of, ‘figures an unstable fighter would have an unstable weapon’.

 

“A mixture of both; armed until disarmed and then hand-to-hand until the other party surrenders. I have seen Lady Rey with her Bo staff as well as her Electrostaff, and I believe that Bo staffs would be best as the most they could leave us with is broken bones.”

 

“They can also perform blunt force trauma to an area that could lead to internal bleeding but I think you could get run over by a Bantha and your thick skull would remain intact so I guess you never have to worry about that,” Hux smirked as Rey defended her weapon; she had learned the hard way what happened when you underestimated any weapon. Come to think of it, so had those foolish scavengers on Jakku who thought they could take advantage of her.

 

“I personally am better with Kamas, is that agreeable or do you want me to use batons? I have trained with both, starting with the batons as they would do little lasting damage during training.” And that was how the three of them found themselves in one of the Training Rooms after Hux’s shift, with many Stormtroopers and many of the Alpha shift bridge crew who came to see if the slim (some dared to call them scrawny) General and bodyguard, could keep up with the Force-wielding, built like a tank, Kylo Ren. Commander Ren and Lady Rey both had Bo staffs whilst General Hux had a set of batons, and none noticed Finn and Phasma subtly comming security to record this fight as, whether they won or loss, these two had a feeling they were going to humiliate Ren.

 

“Right, the boundaries of this fight are rather limitless but I will go over the boundaries we did set up; this will start out as a melee weapons fight, and shall go on until one side wishes to concede, whether they still have a weapon or not. No style of fighting is excluded, however as Commander Ren wishes to prove he is more than a Force user, he has promised to refrain from using them as he feels they would give him an ‘unfair advantage’.” Hux recited their agreed-upon rules for those around them, and Rey saw a few officers making bets on who would win, whilst the Stormtroopers were making their bets on when Ren was going to break his own stipulation and not use his Force abilities. She fought down her smirk as Phasma gave him ten minutes, Finn gave him fifteen (even after everything, he still liked to give people the benefit of the doubt), whilst Mitaka only gave him eight minutes, having seen the man lose his temper too many times to give him much leeway.

 

Rey and Hux both nodded to Ren who was already assuming his fighting stance, and Rey remarked / ** _ ** _Apparently the Knights of Ren do not wish to adhere to dueling codes, as we acknowledged him but he did not acknowledge us_**_**./

 

/ ** _ ** _They might think they are only for the Jedi, not acknowledging the fact that many Sith often showed respect for their opponents when in an official duel. Snoke apparently does not teach his Knights honor_**_**./ Hux replied as he assumed a defensive stance with his batons, noting Ren again did not adhere to the code as he did not raise his weapon to tap against theirs, and instead looked like he was trying to figure out who would attack first. Hux and Rey glanced at each other, trying to determine who should go first; Rey’s weapon allowed her a greater reach, allowing her to attack from farther away, but Hux was physically stronger and his separated weapon allowed him greater mobility. Rey then used her weapon to jab at Ren, which he deflected, and again when Hux tried an overhead swing with the right baton, which Ren then tried to jab at Hux, only for Rey to defend him and the two managed a solid smack to his ribs from either side. Ren pulled back at that, and the others saw him try to catch his breath as both had been aiming for the ribs covering his lungs, hoping to cause the man some discomfort. Ren then tried to divide and conquer them, focusing on Hux as the strongest of the two, only for Rey to toss her weapon to him, which he caught out of reflex, leaving him wide open for her to kick him squarely in the chest and springboard away. Rey then mentioned to Hux something she noticed / ** _ ** _He may be wearing many layers but they are all layers of cloth; no armor, especially where he would need it most; his chest and thighs. The only armor of any kind he seems to have is his helmet; which we should work on having removed from the fight; Karnak and Drake were working on technology that could predict strategies; I doubt he has it but I’m not losing the chance to humiliate this drip due to possibilities. He’s either very confident or very stupid; you focus on his limbs, make him drop the weapon, I’ll focus on his core and back. He may or may not be able to absorb hits like we can, but if we focus on certain areas, I think we can bring him down, and all without using the Force._**_** /

 

/ ** _ ** _Technically, dearest, we are using the Force to communicate without him picking up on our strategy_**_**./ Rey then gave Hux a mental raspberry and the ginger had to struggle to keep his composure as Ren tossed Rey’s staff to the side.

 

“Doing the unexpected seems to be your style Lady Rey; not many would so willingly disarm themselves when a fight has barely begun,” Ren said without too many catching on to the fact he was almost positive he had a cracked rib or two; that girl was a lot like a rabbit, she didn’t look threatening, but by The Maker did her kicks hurt.

 

“The weapon does not make the warrior, the warrior makes the weapon.” Karnak had drilled that into Rey as she always seemed to be more enthused over Drake’s lessons than his own. She entered her fighting stance, and Mitaka almost felt sorry for Ren; right now he was having slight difficulties breathing, soon, he was going to be having difficulties in moving. Hux and Ren engaged each other for a solid ten minutes until Hux achieved his objective and managed to hit the eyes on his helmet, starting a small crack, which Rey took advantage of. Rey focused her punch on the crack before using her other hand to jab the knot in Ren’s throat, causing Ren to have further trouble breathing. Rey then backed away and Hux resumed his assault, focusing heavily on the eye section until Ren was left with no option; he dropped his own staff and threw his hand at the two, causing them to freeze. This made JB-007 (he liked his name so they simply called him Seven in conversations) the winner of both pools as he had bet almost a half hour before the use of Force abilities, and it counted as a forfeit.

 

“Figures you would go back on your word and use the Force when it became apparent you were losing.” Rey taunted as she and Hux prepared their secret strategy.

 

“It doesn’t matter, I have the power of the Force and could have easily stopped either of you before you landed a bit.” Ren gasped out as best he could; not only were his ribs hurting like hell, with the helmet itself damaged, he was having, even more, trouble breathing and now he couldn’t see. This was not how he had envisioned this fight going at all, but if he wanted to salvage any of his dignity, he had to stop the fight now, as any blows he had managed on either of the other two seemed to have no effect at all.

 

“Yes, but the fact is that this fight was to prove to us and **_**_The Finalizer_**_**  that you could hold your own without using the Force; you didn’t hold up your end of the bargain, so why should we stop the fight?” Hux asked, his little finger could just reach the switch.

 

“What are you-” Ren was interrupted by a mechanized voice announcing, ****FORCE RESISTANCE ARMOR ON****. And Ren was thrown for a loop when he felt a kick to his head sending him reeling. He could no longer sense either of them with the Force, but they could plainly move and attack him with full gusto. He had no choice but to remove his helmet, something he was loathe to do in a private setting unless he knew he would be left alone, never mind in front of almost all the Stormtroopers and Hux’s loyal officers. He quickly tossed his helmet to the side just in time to grab Hux’s leg before he could complete his round-house kick. He saw both Hux and Rey look shocked at the sight of him before Rey spoke,

 

“No wonder you wear the helmet; your eyes are very emotional for an interrogator, something you shouldn’t have. I imagine you are also embarrassed about your ears and nose, as people seemed to pay attention to such paltry things, though I wouldn’t be overly concerned; your features seem to be relative to your overall size and it’s not like the features are hideous.” Rey and Hux noticed Ren looked shocked at the idea someone didn’t think he was hideous; surely someone…? Damn but Snoke went to great lengths to entrench his knights in the Dark Side, even having them believe they were outwardly ugly or even hideous, as apparently anything positive lead to the Light Side.

 

“Now, do you wish to continue the fight or do you forfeit?” Hux asked, wondering what the man would do as even he did not look too certain (he really **_**_did_**_**  need that bucket on his head).

 

“I wish to continue if you are agreeable.” Before Hux could respond, Rey asked,

 

“Do you want to use your lightsaber?” Everyone looked shocked at Rey’s question. She rolled her eyes, sighed, then walked over to the weapons stand, grabbing a Z6 for Hux as well as her Electrostaff. Ren understood and ignited his saber, but the implication was clear; no one was to even remotely try for mortal wounds, only grazing, and shallow wounds would be allowed. This time, when Ren noticed Rey and Hux acknowledge each other with their weapons, he tentatively reached out with his saber, as though he was afraid they wouldn’t acknowledge him, which they did with light taps. This fight seemed more evenly matched as, though not aiming for major damage, neither side felt the need to hold back; Rey and Hux both got singed on their arms whilst Ren received some electrical burns on his stomach and thighs. Rey and Hux both agreed Ren was much better with his saber than a Bo staff, and his hand to hand was at least up to par with the Stormtroopers, but he did not appear to be on the level with the Death Walkers, let alone Drake or Karnak. Hux engaged Ren though this time Ren was also doing his best to keep an eye on Rey. When Rey got behind him, he swung around, trying to clip her, but this left him wide open for Hux to land a strike on his hamstrings with the Z6. Seeing Ren freeze from the electrical charge to his muscles, Rey kicked him hard on the same thigh and then used her staff to jab at the center of his chest, causing him to collapse and once more he looked like he was struggling to breathe, though now he didn’t seem able to intake any air at all.

 

“Finn! I hit him harder than I meant to!” Rey immediately dropped her weapon and grabbed Ren, trying to help him get him comfortable enough to breathe. Finn and Mitaka both came rushing over to assess the damage whilst Phasma gave Hux one of their first-aid kits and Slip commed a medical team.

 

“This isn’t good; you managed to crack the Manubrium of his sternum and the electrical charge from your staff is playing havoc with his heart. Better tell medical to…” Ren soon lost consciousness, only to regain it two hours later, and it was to the sound of Hux berating someone… Rey?

 

“... said you could control that weapon, and what do you do? You almost **_**_kill_**_**  Supreme Leader’s apprentice!” Ren opened his eyes and saw that Hux was standing not far from his bed, and he was indeed berating Rey who was standing at attention, but Ren could just make out her eyes being a little damp.

 

“You also know that to throw a punch at the scrotum is just asking for trouble; I know Dopheld has gone over that with you! If you cannot control that weapon, it will be removed until you can control it and yourself!” Ren chose that moment to make his consciousness apparent.

 

“Isn’t that counter-productive? If you take the weapon away, how can she perfect her control? And as for controlling herself, I think she just got caught up in the fighting; I don’t think she gets a flesh and blood opponent that isn’t the enemy very often.” Rey and Hux both whipped around to see him talking. When Ren coughed he was a little surprised to see Rey pop up with a glass of water and she even helped him gingerly sip it. Hux cleared his throat and Rey flinched before straightening and talking,

 

“Lord Ren, I apologize most humbly for what happened during our spar; I got carried away with the fight and forgot the rules our side made for protection on both sides. I am guilty of the same infractions as I have constantly demeaned you for, and I shall accept any punishment you deem necessary.” Ren knew that many in his position would make the punishment as humiliating as possible in light of her constantly goading him. Indeed, he could think of many punishments that would leave the girl thoroughly humiliated and quite possibly unable to show her face around **_**_The Finalizer_**_** for at least a week.

 

“You will spar with me for two hours every day for one month, both in hand to hand as well as lightsaber/Electrostaff combat. You will also be showing me what fighting style you were using as you weren’t putting much force behind your blows, but I could barely breathe. Also, the next time you go on a mission with Captain Finn, I will be accompanying you to see just how much mayhem you give the enemy.” Rey and Hux were both visibly shocked at his ‘punishment’, and if Ren got anything out of this day, it was the cool demeanor of Hux breaking in front of him.

 

“I almost killed you… you realize that, right?”

 

“Yes, and since becoming Master of the Knights of Ren, that was the most invigorating fight I’ve had where my opponent wasn’t either holding back in an effort to kiss up to Snoke or actively trying to kill me. For someone who is not Force sensitive to almost kill me, by accident, it was quite the experience, and I also want to figure out how two people that I could lift with one hand were able to take my punches like they were nothing.”

 

“Lord Ren, am I correct in assuming that instead of disciplining Lady Rey, you wish to train with her?” Hux looked like this concept was so out of depth for him, it wasn’t even standard English.

 

“And you if you feel up to it, General; your uppercut had me seeing stars for a few moments. It takes the two of you standing side by side before you match my size, but I’ve seen Force users bigger than either of you take punches weaker than mine, and they get knocked out. If I am to remain the Master of the Knights of Ren, I have to be the best, and if that means learning styles that Supreme Leader did not think necessary to learn, then it may be the best thing I can do. When I was fighting against the two of you, it wasn’t like I was playing checkers and you two were playing chess; it was like I was playing I was playing Snakes and Ladders, Hux was playing Gin Rummy and Rey was playing poker. Sometimes the best strategy to have is to be unpredictable.” This left the other two shocked; they had honestly believed if Snoke said **_**_breathing_**_**  lead you to the Light side, Kylo Ren would stop breathing.

 

“O-OK, well, the style I use is mostly a mix of Corellian Judo and Krav Maga, particularly the second one as it focuses heavily on nerve attacks and hitting delicate areas. Like when Taj and I-”

 

“Taj?” Hux closed his eyes and mentally groaned at Rey’s little slip-up. Rey blushed a little as she said,

 

“That’s my nickname for Armitage, seeing as how he doesn’t really like his name.” Here, Rey missed the little smirk Ren sent Hux, a smirk that clearly said ‘I am going to **_**_enjoy_**_**  this.’

 

“Anyways, there are a lot of veins and nerves located in your legs and if you hit them just right…” Hux left not long after as once Rey got her needle in the groove of talking about weapons and fighting styles, she could go on for a while. Hux was left with the thought of who he was really punishing; Rey, or Kylo Ren?

 

**_**_About A Month Later_ ** _ **

 

Rey and Ren had gotten along a bit better since they started physical combat, and the sniping between Ren and Hux had lowered as well since the men saved it for the training mats. What surprised some was that Hux and Rey each won as many as they lost in the sparring matches, but when the two paired up against Ren, the man simply could not keep both in his line of sight and therefore kept losing. However, currently, Hux, Phasma, and Ren were all on deck arguing about checking out a certain planet that could be used for Star Killer, versus checking up on a supposed lead to Skywalker’s whereabouts. That was until,

 

“Sir? We are picking up some rather peculiar readings.” A petty officer at the scanners mentioned. Taking this as a chance to break the two hotheads up for five minutes, Phasma responded

 

“What sort of ‘peculiar readings’?”

 

“W-Well ma’am, first it’s there and then it’s gone. See, there it is again!” Phasma, Hux, and Ren could not understand what they were seeing; one minute their sensors were picking up a ship, and then it was gone, and yet they could see nothing on the viewport.

 

“Must be some sort of glitch, get one of the-” Ren was suddenly cut off as right in front of **_**_The Finalizer_**_** , another ship appeared… seemingly out of thin air!

 

“What the devil?” Hux asked when all of a sudden they were fired upon by a second ship that had also been cloaked.

 

“Scramble the Tie-Fighters! And return fire with the ventral cannons!” Hux ordered, only for everyone to suddenly drop to the ground, clutching their heads in pain. And with their center of balance lost, when the next hit came, many were sent flying.

 

“Sir, they’ve got some sort of frequency scrambler that is making our fighters unable to leave the hangar! One tried it and was destroyed by some strange barrier!” Another officer shouted, trying to regain his equilibrium.

 

“What about the cannons? Our guns?” Hux asked as Ren helped him stand, though the man did not appear to be too steady himself.

 

“They’ve taken out our guns and the cannons are loading sir!” Unamo reported from her station before another hit landed.

 

“Damn, I’ve never heard of this technology they’re using, have you?” Hux asked Ren, who simply shook his head in the negative. Suddenly the same screech was heard again, and many were crying out in pain.

 

“Sir, they’re boarding us!” Unamo tried to scream over the screech and Hux was trying to think, he could not let this happen but they were somehow already boarded! How though? It was like they knew the layout of the ship and they somehow got their hands on very sophisticated technology. What then proceeded to march on the bridge was things about 5’10’’, and if their helmets were any indication, had snouts like animals instead of being more humanoid. The lizard-like tails swishing about seemed to support his analysis. When Hux felt his blaster being removed as well as Phasma’s and Ren’s lightsaber and saw them snapping a Force-suppressant collar on his fellow commander, Hux shouted out the first thing that came to mind,

 

“Computer, lock-out deck command controls, authorization Hux-Alpha-Command!” Ren then followed suit,

 

“Computer, lock-out deck command controls, authorization Ren-Beta-Force!” Finally, Phasma added her own lock-out.

 

“Computer, lock-out deck command controls, authorization Phasma-Delta-Troopers!” Rey had been the one to come up with the idea of three different voice commands to lock-out anyone who tried to take over the ship. Everyone was soon hauled to their feet, and Hux noticed how anyone over 5’10’’ was handled very harshly (case in point, one had tried to jab hard at Phasma, only for her to punch the idiot in the throat), but anyone under that height was treated almost delicately. They were separated and, whilst the taller ones were being jabbed and prodded with blasters, the shorter ones were simply corralled with a firm hand. Hux then noticed one stop in front of himself, Ren, and Phasma, and they listened as the things translator spat out,

 

“Release ship to us, or crew dies.”

 

“Don’t make me laugh; **_**_The Finalizer_**_**  houses over one thousand First Order officers and personnel. Even though you managed to board us, you will not be able to hold this ship for long; it was scheduled to rendezvous with another Destroyer in one hour and twenty-six minutes. When that deadline comes and goes, they will come looking for us, find your crew and their ships, and will meet with a proper response. Regardless of that, this ship requires at least five hundred people to run it at minimum capacity every twenty-four hours, at least seven hundred and fifty for efficient capacity. Going by the size of your ships, I would be surprised if you had even four hundred personnel, combined, and if you remove all from those two ships, they will be left abandoned for the First Order to study, something I **_**_know_**_**  you don’t want to happen, as then you would lose your element of surprise and therefore unable to take other Destroyers and ships to chop shops.

 

And if you are thinking of disabling whatever technology you use to make your ships invisible and taking it with you, I believe I can hazard a guess that such technology would be delicately hooked up to your engine drive. I use the word delicately because it’s obviously an old engine since both of the ships look ready to be hauled away as garbage, and if you were to suddenly break something, no doubt you would quickly lose life-support aboard your vessels and you would have to be 100% positive that we couldn’t regain control over our ship just long enough to open fire and destroy them. So, no ripping the system out as that would get you killed, and no taking your time, as our rendezvous would be here by then and simply destroy you.” Even with a bit of blood running from his ears and nose, Hux stood proudly as he informed their captors that even if they were temporarily beaten, they would still come out the victors.

 

“We simply kill you.”

 

“And then what? Face it, you bit off a bit more than you can chew here.” The leader then shouted something in their tongue, and the three command officers were escorted to Hux’s office whilst the bridge crew were escorted somewhere else.

 

“I don’t believe I got the notice about us meeting another ship quite so soon, General.” Hux noticed that Ren seemed deeply affected by the collar around his neck and he wasn’t that surprised; Rey had tried the one Drake and Karnak gave them and within twenty minutes the girl looked so depressed that Hux hid all sharp implements before removing it and spent over half an hour cuddling her, kissing and everything else to comfort her.

 

“I bluffed, thankfully he bought it, though if we could send out a distress signal, I believe **_**_The Dauntless_**_**  is nearby.”

 

“Unfortunately, when we locked out the command controls, we also locked out that bit.” Phasma pointed out as she removed her helmet.

 

“Could we override it from here?” Ren asked, and he looked like he was trying to warm himself up. This made Hux wonder if Force users simply ran hotter than most hominids, as Rey and Finn both put off rather a lot of body heat.

 

“I’m afraid it would take time, and if they see us doing it they could ignore my bluff. The best thing to do at the moment is for we three to put our heads together and see if we can come up with a solution.” Twenty minutes passed and they had been unable to agree on a course of action when three new armed pirates came in.

 

“What is it now? Come to gloat some more about how you managed to grab a ship but can’t-do a thing with it?” Hux asked, only to be shocked at the answer he received.

 

“I never noticed it before, but you **_**_really_**_**  like the sound of your own voice, don’t you? Taj?”

 

“Rey?!” The three then removed their helmets to reveal Rey, Mitaka, and a young petty officer Hux remembered called Thanisson. Thanisson had recently discovered Rey was a Force user but kept quiet about it, not for blackmail purposes, but because he feared what the Knights of Ren would force her to become. When Hux stumbled on the two, Thanisson tried to make it seem like Rey had found a lightsaber on board and was coming to inform Hux of the possibility of a spy in their midst. Hux and Rey then spent the better part of an hour assuring Thanisson that Rey was a known Force user amongst certain individuals on board, and then helped Thanisson build rudimentary shields around the thought. Rey went to Hux and hugged him whilst Thanisson stood to watch at the door with some sort of device on his wrist.

 

“How did you three evade capture?” Phasma asked as she put a hand on Mitaka’s shoulder, as close to a hug as she ever got.

 

“Thanisson and I were in my lab when we were boarded. Mitaka managed to come running in, said he was being chased, so I activated emergency protocol 4.” Rey explained as Hux noticed she had sheared her hair off so it rested on her chin.

 

“Protocol 4?” Ren asked, still looking highly uncomfortable so Rey went over to him and examined the collar.

 

“Sorry, we need the key to remove that or you could wind up a vegetable or worse with how the thing is hooked up very closely to your Medulla Oblongata; a powerful jolt of electricity there, and you’re in a whole galaxy of trouble. And yes, protocol 4, a protocol in place in case you happen to be in the area and just received bad news. I have a few chemicals in my lad that would react… shall we say, explosively, if in close contact with something so hot as plasma.” Rey then managed to remove Ren’s helmet and placed something on his neck.

 

“That should help keep you warm, at least for a couple of hours, and hopefully by then we will have regained control of this ship; you’ll be off interrogating, I will be studying their tech that not only rendered their ships invisible but also put everyone on the ground, and Hux and Phasma will have new reptile skinned shoes to show off at the next ball,” Rey said with a smirk.

 

“Rey, what is Thanisson holding?” Phasma asked the petty officer had yet to move away from the door.

 

“Something we’ve been developing to aid in covert recon missions; essentially, you load the DNA of a certain species, and that device will let off a warning ping when someone gets too close for comfort. I’m sorry to say that this is the first actual testing of the device since, with a crew composed largely of hominids, it’s only been minimally tested.” Rey explained as she grabbed her pack and unloaded a few datapads.

 

“It does seem to be working ma’am; I’m only picking up on the two pirates stationed outside the door, none of us are registering,” Thanisson reported, not taking his eyes off of the device.

 

“If you locked down the lab, how did you get out? Protocol 4 and up requires outside clearance to open.”

 

“The ventilation shaft in the lab; Mitaka and Thanisson are both too broad in the shoulder to crawl through, but I’m not. So, as the pirates were attempting to get in, I managed to crawl behind them, knock them out and we swiped their uniforms. The tallest amongst them is only 5’11’’, so, with the help of some robotic tails, they simply think we are more members of their crew.”

 

“Any sign of the Stormtroopers? Do you know where they’ve taken the bridge crew?” Phasma asked, as Hux now understood why Rey sheared her hair off; it obviously didn’t fit under the helmet so it needed to be shortened.

 

“Why just knock them out? Why not kill?” Ren asked, feeling a bit better now that he wasn’t so cold. The inability to access the Force was still highly unsettling and disturbing, but he found he could focus a bit better now.

 

“A blaster bolt gives off a lot more heat than a stun bolt, so the blasters in my lab are only set for stun and would have taken more time than we had to override it. Though it did give Doph a chance to find out something interesting about them.” Rey then motioned for Mitaka to speak.

 

“They have an extreme sensitivity to light; one was coming around the corner whilst we were tying the others up and instead of pulling the trigger I… uh, I accidentally… activated the torch attached to the blaster.” Mitaka looked highly embarrassed so Thanisson pointed out,

 

“It was a good thing you did; that particular pirate had his helmet off so he got the full blast of the torch, and we found out that they have no eyelids, so when the flash hit him, he couldn’t block it.”

 

“How can we use that?” Phasma asked.

 

“If we could somehow get them to remove their helmets, all we would need is something to reach a big enough intensity that would blind them, then we could rush them and get our weapons back. Unfortunately, all they would need to do is activate their sonic weapon and we are on the ground again.” This stumped all of them, so Rey said,

 

“To answer your previous questions Phasma, almost all the Stormtroopers were in training when we were attacked; when they tried to get out, the same barrier that is keeping our Tie-Fighters inside went up. Now, they’re locked in, and I haven’t been able to raise either Finn or anyone down in the hangar to see how they’re doing. It looks like they have placed the taller people in the brig, whereas they’ve placed anyone of our general height in the mess hall.”

 

“Again, they are vicious and cautious of anyone taller than them, but anyone of their height, they treat like they are no threat at all.”

 

“Look, we need a plan here; we need to free the Tie-Fighters, we need to try and hail **_**_The Dauntless_**_**  for aid, and we have to weaken these cold-blooded pirates so we can fight back.” Ren reminded them, now looking frustrated at not being able to do anything.

 

“As much as this pains me to say it, you’re right. Rey, do you think you could leave your device here, allowing us to make sure they are not about to surprise us with a visit whilst we try and hail **_**_The Dauntless_**_**?” Rey suddenly seemed distracted by something Ren said.

 

“Rey?”

 

“Hmm? Oh yes, when we leave Thanisson will give you the device.”

 

“What is it?” Mitaka asked.

 

“Cold-blooded, Ren called them cold-blooded.”

 

“Well, they’re reptilian in appearance and the lack of eye-lids further supports-”

 

“Of course! They’re cold-blooded! These suits are meant to keep the heat in, but if extreme cold were introduced all of a sudden, they would be unable to adapt!”

 

“What are you going to do? Tamper with the thermostat?” Ren asked, not looking that impressed. Rey almost wished she had not given him the heating pad.

 

“In a way; I’m going to make the ship believe she is on fire.”

 

“What?!” Hux asked, wondering if her being around Ren was truly affecting her mind.

 

“When people see a fire happening, they immediately try to douse it with water, but when we were designing this ship, we decided on another protocol, one that wouldn’t waste water needlessly. We decided on this in case a fire arose in our technorganic oxygen factory; our partially electrical forest?” Rey looked at Hux and suddenly he understood.

 

“We designed the protocol to instead shoot out streams of CO2; something that would douse the flames but not potentially short-circuit the forest! If the ship believes she’s on fire wherever our lizard friends are, she will shoot CO2 at them, thoroughly dousing them in a cold stream!”

 

“And thus unable to warm themselves as all their heat will be thoroughly doused!”

 

“I believe now we have a plan?” Phasma asked as she looked at her two favorite crazy people.

 

“Yes, you three will try and override enough of the system so that you can send a distress signal to **_**_The Dauntless_**_** , in case we are unable to complete our missions. Doph, I want you to sneak down to where the Stormtroopers are being kept; they alone should be more than enough to take on these lizards. Lon, I want you to try and disengage the barrier surrounding the Tie-Fighters, if we can take the fight outside, the pirates may be willing to listen. Meanwhile, I need to head down to engineering where the main computer is, and I need to convince the ship that she’s on fire, thankfully I have BB-9 waiting for me near our quarters.”

 

“Your first name is Lon?” Phasma couldn’t help but ask.

 

“I wish, ma’am; my name is Alonzo Thanisson.”

 

“Better than Armitage,” Hux mumbled before Rey kissed his cheek, put her helmet back on, and proceeded to leave. Thanisson gave the device to Ren and was preparing to put his own helmet back on, same as Mitaka when Hux spoke,

 

“Gentlemen, if anything happens to that girl, I assure you, you will wish you had not survived this inconvenience.” Only Hux would call a hostile situation an ‘inconvenience’.

 

“Taj, stop scaring the only two creatures with opposable thumbs I have for this mission with useless death threats. If either of them fails we’re probably all dead anyway. Just you, Phasma, and Darth Tantrum over there get to hailing **_**_The Dauntless_**_**.” Rey called back before leaving with Thanisson and Mitaka.

 

“You really need to marry that girl,” Phasma said as she started the process of disabling the lock-out and sending a distress signal.

 

“I hardly think now is the appropriate time to be thinking of marriage, Phasma.” Hux snapped back.

 

“Personally, I think I would make a killer Maid of Honor, though who would be your Best Man?”

 

“Phasma, please, just help me regain control of my ship?”

 

**_**_One Hour Later_ ** _ **

 

“We again thank you for your aid, General Tomas, and apologize for calling you here needlessly.” Hux was very happy to be back in control of his ship but now a touch embarrassed he had called for help when he did not need it.

 

“Nonsense General Hux! If even one step of your plan had misfired, you could have been in serious trouble! No, you did the smart thing by calling us to back you up in case it went belly-up. Now, apart from two dead Stormtroopers (please extend my condolences to your bodyguard, I know how much she cares for them), a destroyed Tie-Fighter and a few injured, the First Order greatly benefits! I believe our scientists will get one of the machines that allowed their ships to turn invisible, and your bodyguard will examine the other one. There is also the sonic weapon that they used to put an entire Destroyer crew on their bellies! If you need help again and we are in the area, don’t hesitate to call on us; it’s better your pride suffer a little, then the First Order lose its flagship or her star General!” The comm then went dead, and he was just glad that it had been General Tomas and not someone like General Figwid who had answered the distress signal; that man despised Hux for getting what he saw as **_**_his_**_**  rightful position, though Ren confided in him that Figwid never even popped up on Snoke’s radar. He then left his office for where Rey, Finn, Phasma, and Ren were keeping the pirates who had attacked them, down in the brig, nodding to Mitaka and Thanisson on the way; those two were both to receive citations for their efforts today, and Rey was going to be in for quite the treat their next shore leave.

 

“Anything?” Hux asked Finn as the other three were all keeping an eye out.

 

“Unfortunately, no sir; it would appear their species is naturally resistant to the Force, the collar they placed on Commander Ren was simply so he couldn’t attack them physically, as they somehow knew the collar actually drains the fight out of a user.” Finn and Rey had tried to covertly enter the minds of the pirates but there was nothing but white noise, making them one of the few species that were known to be Force resistant. Slip and Seven then came in with a soldier held tightly between them, before throwing him on the floor.

 

“What is the meaning of this?” Hux asked as Ren came over, trying to place the soldier.

 

“He supplied the pirates with the details of the ship, from the layout to when the Stormtroopers would be engaged in their exercises, therefore unable to help you when you needed us.” Seven explained as Slip looked ready to shoot the traitor.

 

“Why would you do this? Betraying not only your ship but your crew as well?” Before the soldier could attempt to explain himself, Rey spoke up.

 

“I remember you now! You’re that soldier from a few months back that called me Hux’s whore!” The others all looked uncomfortable at this reminder (even Ren was fingering his lightsaber at the reminder) and looked at the soldier with even colder eyes than before.

 

“Yes, we had a good system in place until you went and screwed Hux’s common sense out of him! Now, he’s damaged, under your spell, like everyone on this fucking garbage scow! I’m not about to let him destroy the First Order my father was trying to make by making sure this whoreson never made it to Major!” Hux had a moments recognition before a blaster was pulled and fired, and in Rey’s fear, she did the one thing she wasn’t supposed to.

 

She stopped the bolt in mid-air, before sending it back to fool who wrecked **_**_everything_**_**! She felt powerful hands grip her before spinning her around and she was looking straight into the dark abyss of the mask as a voice whispers,

 

“You’re Force-sensitive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it, chapter 4; Ren get’s his ass handed to him twice, he gets comforted, and then he finds out he’s not the only cowboy at the ranch! Sorry about that almost sex scene back there, but I’ve never actually written a heterosexual sex scene before, only homosexual. Weird, I know, considering I’m a girl, but there you have it. I figure your imaginations would come up with something better than what I could squish together at 1 in the morning. Question, should Mitaka be with Phasma or someone else? It’s not important to the plot or anything, I just wanted to know what you think. Next chapter will have the fall-out from this one, what will Ren do now that he knows of Rey’s sensitivity? Will Hux be able to keep her safe? And what of Finn? Oh, and sorry about the abrupt ending to the chapter, but this chapter simply kept going on and on, and I needed to end it somehow.


	5. Fights and Knights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren now knows about Rey's Force-Sensitivity, and he wants to see what she can do. Not to mention, some of the Knights of Ren want to meet Rey and test her for themselves. The Commandant is also making an appearance, but he is Nothing to worry about.

Disclaimer: If I owned this, do you really think I would have killed off Han Solo of all people?

 

****Chapter 5** **

****

Rey, Hux, and Kylo Ren were currently heading towards Hux’s office, and none of them were happy, as noticed by the bridge crew who were quick to get out of the way. They had just managed to take back _****The Finalizer****_  from some pirates who got the upper hand thanks to a traitor, who turned out to be the former General Salas’ son who General Babak managed to smuggle on board. Seven and Slip were rounding up the other co-conspirators, including Janice from accounts who started squealing out the names of even those at High Command who had engineered this, including General Figwid who was supposed to ‘rescue’ them, after Hux lost _****The Finalizer****_.

 

But the reason the trio were heading towards Hux’s office, was because, in her fear to protect Hux when Salas junior fired upon him, Rey had broken her composure and saved him… by using the Force. She saw the blaster, saw the bolt coming, aimed at Hux’s head, realized that she couldn’t take the hit for him (stupid height difference), and reacted on instinct. She grabbed the blaster bolt with the Force before she could stop herself, and when silence descended, she realized what she had done, what she had jeopardized, and sent the bolt back to its owner, taking his arm off but not killing him. Ren had ordered Phasma and Finn to get the little weasel to start talking about any other conspirators and then grabbed Rey to lead her away, along with Hux who ordered the three of them to his office. As they entered said office, Ren removed his helmet and turned on the two people who aggravated him to no end (though he refused to admit that he aggravated them in return).

 

“No one who just developed their sensitivity can stop a blaster bolt; it’s simply not possible.” Ren started their conversation.

 

“I first developed my sensitivity when I believe I was around seven or eight, I can’t remember exactly when it fully appeared, and as I don’t know my true life-day, it would be difficult to accurately pinpoint, but I believe it was around that time,” Rey replied, thinking of what she would have to do to stay out of the Knights of Ren.

 

“Meaning she had her sensitivity when _****you****_  found her and brought her aboard _****The Argonaut****_.” Ren then turned to Hux, who did not look impressed with the accusation.

 

“She saved four of my men from being crushed by a piece of junk Salas wanted to use and humiliate me with. It was suspended in the air with no one holding it, everyone had a look of shock on their faces; everyone, except a small child who instead had a look of extreme concentration on her face and her arm outstretched. I don’t have the Force, and I don’t put much stock in it, but it was quite obvious that she was Force-sensitive and could be of great use to me.” Hux was currently pulling up all footage they had of Rey putting the boy in his place through their fights; hopefully, it would be enough to have him keep his mouth shut.

 

“You should have alerted the Supreme Leader of this so that she could get training.”

 

“I did get training once we were on _****The Endeavor****_ ; General Drake and General Karnak were both outstanding teachers for me.” Finn’s sensitivity had not yet been revealed, so Rey felt no need to mention him and put him in danger.

 

“I mean real teaching, not whatever those weaklings could whip togeth- ugh!” Ren was slugged (Force but that girl could punch!) and found himself with a saber hilt close to his neck; the slight distortion around the hilt was the only clue he had that there was actually a blade there, and he realized what he was looking at.

 

“Where did you get a Ghostfire crystal?” Even Darth Sidious had had trouble finding them, as they would have been perfect weapons for his assassins; no wonder the girl had such a kill rate.

 

“General Drake got it for me, and if you ever call him or General Karnak weaklings again, you will find yourself missing an appendage or two. Besides which, I couldn’t be trained with the Knights of Ren.”

 

“Don’t tell me those two id- those two trained a Jedi for the First Order?” The hilt was tilted so the base touched the knot in his throat, so he quickly changed his wording.

 

“I’m a Grey Jedi, you Darth Vader fan-boy, and in case your infantile mind can’t register what exactly that means, it means that whilst I can use an amount of Dark Side energy, if I use too much, I would go insane. Something I doubt Supreme Leader would overly wish to prevent seeing as how as I have never seen a Knight of Ren use any technique that was remotely on the light side, not even the bubble technique which is great for defense. I would be worse than you are when it would come to self-control; whilst we don’t appreciate you destroying this ship from the inside-out, you at least have enough forethought to not to kill our own people. I doubt I would even be able to do that; I would have no regard for anything, I would be a mindless weapon awaiting someone to simply point out the enemy so I could kill them, but everything that makes me, _****me****_ , would be lost.” Ren looked down and saw, beneath her anger at someone calling her teachers, weaklings/idiots, that aspect of insanity truly frightened her, and he softened a bit, thinking more clearly. Before he could say anything, however, Hux interrupted,

 

“Enough of this; Ren, you either keep quiet about Rey being Force-sensitive, or the entire galaxy, including the Resistance and the New Republic, will see how a girl half your size was not only able to withstand your interrogation techniques but also best you in a fight. All without using the Force. I assure you, not many will fear you after they see that footage, thus leaving you as useless to both the First Order and Supreme Leader Snoke.” Hux was in full General mode as he said this; there was no gentleness that was there when Rey and he were alone (which reminded him, he _****really****_  needed to get those cameras before either found them, or they’d skin him); nor was there a dry wit that accompanied their sparring matches. This wasn’t what effected Kylo though,

 

“I had already decided not to inform Supreme Leader once Rey made the comment about being a Grey Jedi; they simply can’t handle large amounts of Dark Side energy, and as she has already proven herself loyal to the First Order, there was no threat of treason. I was angrier that you felt the need to hide this from me.” Ren declared, making Rey look at him incredulously and Hux sneered at him.

 

“And why pray tell, would we tell you something of such a delicate nature that over 94% of High Command has no idea about, Lord Ren?” Rey, being closest, saw the strangest thing in Ren’s eyes; hurt.

 

“I… I thought we were friendly with each other.” Now, Hux felt like he had just stepped on Millie’s paws. By the Maker, Ren really was lonely, wasn’t he? If he was seeing their weekly sparring sessions, as well as the debates he and Rey got into over which was the better fighting style, as friendly interactions, that man was grasping at whatever he could for some sort of connection. Ren grabbed his helmet, turned to leave and mumbled,

 

“I’ll make sure no one else finds out about her.” Rey deactivated the saber and called out,

 

“Ren- Kylo, wait.” Ren looked at Rey, no one on this ship called him Kylo, in fact, few people did period.

 

“Kylo, please try to understand this from our point-of-view; for almost five straight years, we have had to hide this from visiting dignitaries, rebel forces that could have gotten away, even those who are friendly with us at High Command, don’t know about me. Now, obviously, the old crew who were part of _****The Endeavor****_  know about me. It would have been pointless to hide it from them, but they are all my friends so they agreed not to mention it to anyone and have even been helping me hide it (and the subliminal message to not talk about it with unknowns around certainly helped). Now, here you come along; a known Dark Side Force user, devoted to Supreme Leader and not so tolerant of Force users who don’t conform to your way of thinking. Can you honestly look me in the eye, and say that, if you had found out before you respected me enough to hear me out on why we didn’t go to Supreme Leader, you would not have informed the… man?” It was a little hard to classify Supreme Leader, so he could understand the hesitation. He thought about it, then sighed,

 

“No, I can’t say as I would have and you are right; whilst Grey Jedi were not as sanctimonious as the Jedi Council, and more willing to use certain techniques, it is also true that very few were able to use full-blown Dark techniques without losing a good chunk of their sanity. Out of curiosity, what exactly _****can****_ you do?” Rey suddenly got this look on her face, which caused a shiver to run down the spines of the men, and Hux secretly felt sorry for Ren- no, he had better start thinking of him as Kylo; as their friend, he would try and protect Rey as well.

 

“I’m rather tired right now, so how about the day after tomorrow, you and I have a duel? We use all skills we have, from Force techniques to physical combat, and you will be able to see my fighting lightsaber.” Kylo lit up at that.

 

“You have more than one lightsaber? One for hiding and one for fighting?”

 

“And one showpiece,” Hux muttered as he went about his duties, getting another message from Slip, saying that they had enough evidence from the moron conspirators to get Figwid; either they were very sloppy, or they weren’t going to burn alone.

 

“It is not a showpiece! I simply don’t use it as much seeing as how I have my own saber plus my dagger; the saberstaff is just too unyielding to be compatible with my style of fighting.” Rey defended herself and Kylo looked very interested.

 

“You have a saberstaff? I’ve seen a couple of them but their owners all seemed like the weapon was about to bite them.”

 

“Can you two please geek out over your weapons _****away****_  from my office? I, unlike the two of you, have actual work to be done and it will be done much faster without you two around.” Hux asked/ordered as he looked at another datapad.

 

“We are not ‘geeking out’; we are discussing our weapons!” Kylo and Rey both shouted, highly offended at the idea of being ‘geeks’.

 

“Whatever you say.”

 

“So when we talk about our sabers, it’s ‘geeking out’, but when you discuss the semantics of Starkiller it’s…” Rey asked and Hux responded,

 

“It’s exactly that; discussing the semantics of a military super-weapon with other generals of the same military order.” Rey looked at him before looking at Kylo.

 

“He really **_**_does_**_**  like the sound of his own voice, doesn’t he?” Kylo nodded before coughing out *nerd*.

 

“Both of you, beat it before I have you helping medical out for the next three weeks.” Kylo looked away in distaste before Rey asked,

 

“Oh, do they need help? Dr. Kando was talking about teaching me a thing or two about medicine so I can help Finn on our missions.” Hux thought about that for a moment; Rey liked helping out, so she wouldn’t see it as punishment.

 

“Right, well the Tie-fighters could certainly do with maintenance.” Why did he say that?

 

“I can look them over tomorrow after my exercises, it wouldn’t be a problem.” Ren looked at her; what _****did****_  this girl see as punishment?

 

“Uh, sanitation was talking about needing help.”

 

“Well, you always say that a clean ship is an efficient ship so-”

 

“Ugh, Ren, scram and take her with you or you will be helping her!” Kylo promptly picked Rey up around the middle, grabbed his helmet again, and carried her out of the office. The last thing Hux heard before the doors closed was,

 

“Kylo you overgrown, bucket wearing, tantrum throwing, man-child, put me down this instant!”

 

“I keep telling you: it’s not a bucket, it’s a helm!” Kylo argued back.

 

“And yet I don’t hear you arguing against being a man-child or throwing tantrums.” Hux sighed and wondered if the Force made people act very immaturely, especially when around other Force users? No, it must be Re-Kylo; Rey never acted up when she was just around Finn, Drake or Karnak. Well, she did once or twice, but that was Finn and Drake’s fault, not her’s.

 

_****Two Days Later** ** _

 

It somehow seemed like the group from the sparring matches had doubled in size as Rey and Kylo made their way into the training room, each holding their lightsabers, with people noticing she had both her lance and her shoto. They faced each other once they came to the training pad, and Rey noticed that the Stormtroopers from _****The Endeavor****_  were stationed in a loose circle around them, separating them from the newer Stormtroopers. They then bowed before bringing their sabers up to meet each other, and Rey said,

 

“I’m not fighting you with that on your head,” Kylo replied,

 

“I’ll take the helm off, but you have to remove your Force resistant armor,” Rey grumbled but agreed to it; she was looking forward to having a new opponent that she didn’t know all the moves to, as it would help her develop new strategies. The two entered their stances, with Kylo activating his red cross-guard saber and Rey activating her yellow saberlance.

 

“A Sentinel? I’m impressed.” Kylo said as he lowered his saber to meet hers now that they were active.

 

“I’ve never seen a cross-guard myself, how do keep your fingers from being burned off?” Rey asked as she had been wondering that for months.

 

“Lots of practice.” The two did some basic moves, trying to feel each other out; saber against saber was very different from saber against Electrostaff, or even the times he went against Captain Finn and his Z6 (that had been embarrassing; losing to a Stormtrooper with a baton). Kylo made sure to move away when it looked like she was getting ready to smack his thigh with the hilt of her saber.

 

“Very good; it took Captain Finn a few trips to the infirmary before he was able to read that move.” Rey praised him and the two heard Finn mumble,

 

“Even with knowing your body language, I still can’t beat you in a fight.”

 

“May I ask, why _****are****_  you so close to Captains Phasma and Finn, along with Lt. Slip?” Kylo asked as he thrust his saber, only for her to dodge and knock his saber away from her.

 

“Well, after I got caught up in my academics, Hux had Phasma work on my physical training; finding my limits, then throwing me head-first over them. As for Finn and Slip, they caught a would-be assassin that the former General Salas had arranged to murder me; they were also able to provide the evidence that Salas held Hux back until his son, our own traitor, advanced himself. After that, the three of us all became fast friends, and I try to be friends with all the Stormtroopers that pass-by here as, even without the constant reconditioning, they sometimes feel like they aren’t appreciated, especially since they would be the first ones to be killed in any skirmishes.” Rey replied as she jumped to avoid a low sweep, meant to knock her feet out from under her.

 

“Have Slip and Seven had any luck figuring out how that brat managed to get on board? Last I heard, General Ta'kar was getting ready to discharge the kid, most likely with the word dishonorable attached to it.” Ren asked as Rey jumped back from a slash aimed for her middle, she was saving the surprise of her weapon for later, though she did manage to get a good kick in on his knee bone.

 

“General Selek sent Hux and me-”

 

“Hux and I,” Hux called out over the hum of the sabers.

 

“Hux and _****I****  _(bloody grammar Nazi), an early edition of the report; apparently General Babak had requested Salas Jr to be transferred to his ship before Ta’kar could officially discharge him. Now, Ta’kar is an efficient General, one of the best, but he did owe Babak and Salas a couple favors so, to wipe his slate clean, he gave the boy to Babak with a black mark on his record, stating that if the boy didn’t pull his act together, he would be discharged. Now, from there, Babak changed the boy’s name from Salas to Kindo, his mother’s maiden name, and gave him a new backstory, and busted him back down to lieutenant, as he felt a suddenly brand new captain would draw too much attention. From there, Lieutenant Kindo was one of the names listed for duty aboard _****The Finalizer****_ , along with his distant cousin, Janice from Accounts, and the two worked on trying to instill mutiny aboard the ship, only to come to the realization that most of the crew thinks Hux is a great commander and a lot of people like me.

 

So, even though they managed to get some like-minded individuals on their side, it was not nearly enough to incite mutiny, so instead, they stole some blueprints from my lab on the sonic weapon and cloaking technology, gave it to those pirates, and set the incident up so that Hux would lose _****The Finalizer****_ , and probably either be demoted or even lose his own commission. So not only are the traitors guilty of treason and mutiny, but they are also guilty of fraud, misallocation of funds (Salas Jr was getting _****two****_  paychecks, one as a lieutenant _****and****_  one as a captain, and he had the _****gall****_  to talk about my salary!), theft of science equipment and schematics and whatever else they can throw at them. General Ta’kar has appealed his innocence, agreeing to let Generals Selek and Rakfar, as well as, apparently even one of your Knights of Ren interrogate him to show that he had no knowledge whatsoever about what was going on.” Rey grunted as Ren bore down on her; sadly his muscle mass was greater than hers.

 

“Any idea who?” Ren was putting all of his weight behind this, and he saw her flinch from the sparks of his saber.

 

“Apparently Snoke has offered Tzita Ren, Lokron Ren, and Odabi Ren, citing them as some of his best interrogators, after you, but it would take us some time to get back to high command and they want this over and done with before The New Republic or the Resistance find out about it.” Rey was having trouble moving her hand in order to activate the switch for the other end. She didn’t even reach for her shoto, as she feared Ren would be able to use the moment to overpower her.

 

“You might want to inform General Selek to use Lokron Ren; nothing against the other two but Odabi Ren is like a dog with a bone; if he thinks you are guilty, he will torture you until you confess, even if it turns out you are not guilty in the end. As for Tzita Ren, she is good at interrogating Resistance spies, but she may have trouble seeing the true levels of deception these kinds of traitors build up. Don’t get me wrong; she’s a good interrogator, but I don’t think she’s ready for this, and no mistakes can afford to be made. Lokron Ren is good at finding out the truth; he’s harsh, and Ta’kar will probably come out bloody and blue, but he’ll come out alive, which is more than I can say for Odabi and very little gets by him, unlike Tzita who misses things that can lead to bigger things.”

 

“Duly noted.” Rey decided there was only one way out of this, and she felt a little bad for doing this to Ren, but she truly had no choice as she had no desire to lose. Finn and Hux quickly read her body language and they started moving the Troopers that were directly behind Ren out of the line of fire. Rey then opened her mouth, and Force screamed, knocking Ren back quite a few feet, almost slamming into a wall, though he managed to catch himself before that happened.

 

“What was that?!” Ren yelled, as his ears had yet to cease ringing, watching in astonishment as Rey’s saberlance became a saberstaff.

 

“That was my Force Scream, a technique General ‘weakling’ Karnak taught me; he told me that there were numerous Force abilities out there, but so few thought to train in them, preferring to rely solely on their lightsabers in battle. And I have a few more up my sleeve.” Everyone who could still hear cheered for Rey, knowing that now, the real fight would begin. Ren found it the tiniest bit funny that Rey could use Force Lightning, a rather advanced technique, but her telekinesis was only a bit above average. Currently, Rey had one hand wrapped around Ren’s wrist and his free hand was wrapped around her wrist, keeping the sabers away from themselves, Kylo was also using the Force to keep Rey’s mouth closed, as he had no desire for an encore. It was taking everything Rey had to keep standing, whilst avoiding the second blade of her own saber, which she was now thankful that she had been unable to disconnect the sabers, so she wasn’t dodging a free-swinging saber. Both paused on their efforts as they heard,

 

“Rey, Rey, Rey, Rey,-” Finn lead his Death Walkers and the other Troopers, whilst Mitaka lead most of the officers and technicians in a chant that would hopefully encourage Rey not to give up the ghost, so to speak. Kylo was surprised when Rey suddenly started pushing back, removing his advantage, until Kylo was pushed back and held at bay by some sort of bubble encasing Rey, who was trying to catch her breath.

 

“Most impressive, how you can use both Light and Dark Side techniques so fluently together; most are only able to use one side per fight, as the Jedi believed in clearing their minds and the Sith use dark emotions to fuel their powers.” Kylo himself was attempting to catch his breath, and he watched as the saber changed again, this time one saber becoming two.

 

“I guess I’m special that way.” Rey had not been left this tired from a fight in a long time, even the fights with Drake did not seem to be so tiring after she made her own saber.

 

“If you want to call it a day, I don’t mind; you’ve shown how highly skilled you are.” Kylo offered, true he wanted to keep fighting, see if she had any more tricks up her sleeve, but he didn’t want her to over-exert herself, as it had obviously been quite a few months since she had sparred with her saber. Rey instead steadied her stance, gripped both of her sabers, and said,

 

“I don’t give up so easily.” Many knew that her scavenger mentality would never leave her, and truth be told Hux wouldn’t allow it; that desire to keep pushing through until you got what you wanted, the inability to simply roll-over and accept defeat, the never-ending hunger for victory; nothing made him harder.

 

“Why doesn’t she just shoot at him with her lightning from inside the bubble?” He heard someone ask from behind him, he couldn’t tell if it was a Stormtrooper or an officer, but Phasma answered,

 

“Sadly the bubble completely encases her, protecting her, but also preventing her from attacking; if she were to use the lightning, it would bounce off the shield and attack her.” Phasma still remembered that day; she had felt actual fear run down her spine as Rey was in her bubble, tried to shoot lightning at Drake, only for it to hit the bubble and bounce back at her, narrowly missing her heart. She saw Rey release one of the blades, holding it with the Force, before reaching into one of her pockets and pulling out a… clump of dirt? Huh, she hadn’t realized Rey had advanced so far with that technique that she could use it in such a setting. The bubble lowered, Rey tossed the clump at Ren’s feet and then grabbed the other saber. Ren wondered what was going on, until large, thick vines shot up out of the ground and wrapped around him, even going so far as to pull his saber up behind him, rendering him unable to cut himself out.

 

“Plant surge? I have never seen this been used in such a situation.” Kylo grunted, trying to move but the vines didn’t give much leeway.

 

“I can tell you right now; _****that****_  took a lot of effort, but seeing as how I didn’t feel safe using my saber unless you were on the other side of the ship, I needed something to work on. I have one more trick that would win me this fight, but I’m hesitant to use it as it’s one of the more dangerous ones and you, not to mention almost everyone around us, could get seriously hurt; I was shocked when Karnak told me this was a _****Light****_  side power. Combustion.” Kylo quickly shook his head; he had no desire to be set on fire.

 

“Would you settle for a draw? I could use the Force to cut these vines (now that I think about it), and your combustion ability seems a little too out of your control if you are hesitant to try it. We can keep going but I firmly and humbly retract all my negative comments about what I said concerning your teachers; they have obviously done a marvelous job teaching you.” Rey nodded, when she couldn’t win, she at least aimed for a draw. Finn and Slip went to her whilst Seven and Phasma helped cut Ren out of the vines. The other Stormtroopers went about their business, some congratulating Rey, others assuring Ren that it had been a good fight; Ren rather got the impression that Rey was humoring him in regards to the draw. He knew that it was a good thing the two of them were worn out, however, as she was not going to like what he said next, he only wished Hux looked to be in a better mood.

 

“Some of my personal Knights of Ren are arriving within the month.” Rey and Hux both turned to look at him.

 

“And just _****why****_  are your Knights coming here at this time?” Hux asked, already getting ready to yell at him.

 

“Those Knights and I share a Force-Bond, not wholly unlike the ones Lady Rey shares with most of the people on this ship, and after I was cut off from the Force, and then we re-established our bonds, they refused to retreat to their own minds. As such when Lady Rey stopped the blaster bolt that was aimed at you, General, they saw it as well and they now wish to meet her.”

 

“WHAT?! You couldn’t have closed the damn thing on your end?” Rey and Hux both screamed at him and right now he was wishing he had his helmet on to avoid this.

 

“There was no reason at the time; I had been cut off from them and then to feel their energies again calmed me. When they found out about a traitor lurking about on this ship, they wanted the bonds to remain open so they could see if there was any chance of there being traitors on their own ships! None of us were expecting the girl we had come to respect to suddenly stop a blaster bolt in thin air and the send it hurtling back to the traitor! They heard your reasons on why you withheld your abilities from Supreme Leader and Lokron Ren made the others all agree; you’re safer with him not knowing, but even after seeing you fight, they want to test you themselves. They even wanted to know if you were amiable to learn a thing or two from them; Dyta Ren told me she thinks she can help bring your telekinesis up to where the rest of your powers are, whilst Shakar thinks she can help with your combustion technique; her father could use it and so taught her some important techniques.”

 

“How many are coming?” Hux asked, focusing on the issue so as to not throttle his infernal co-commander.

 

“Let me see, Dyta, Shakar, and Lokron, that’s three, plus the twins Quinn and Shin, that makes five and I think Flotza said she was coming as well, so six Knights altogether. Though Tzita might join us simply because Flotza is her master, and sometimes gets into trouble when her master isn’t around to keep her in line.” Rey looked at him for a minute before speaking,

 

“How can your Knights respect me when they have never met me? And I thought there were almost twenty Knights of Ren?”

 

“There are actually twenty-five, but those six are the ones that are altogether loyal to me, about eight of them answer first and foremost to Snoke even though I have the title of Master, and the rest, such as Tzita, are the kind that are loyal to whoever has the most power, so right now that is Supreme Leader, but they still respect me. And they have never physically met you, but I often would talk about the two of you to them, and they were most fascinated by the two people who would constantly challenge me so blatantly, and after you two defeated me, that fascination simply grew. Quinn and Shin were both hoping you would discuss military strategies with them General, as they seem to be your specialty, and the twins enjoy learning new strategies or finding and fixing flaws in old strategies.”

 

“You said this Tzita Ren was only fair at interrogations; if she comes, how do you know she won’t _****accidentally****_  reveal our little secret to Supreme Leader?” Hux asked as he brought Rey a little closer to him and Ren got the feeling Hux worried about someone taking his bodyguard/lover away from him; sociopaths may have trouble connecting to others emotionally, but he knew they could be rather possessive.

 

“A rather ingenious tactic developed by Flotza Ren; when there is information that we feel Supreme Leader would either find useless or distasteful, we would hide it away in our minds. And, when we were to report to him, that spot in our minds would be covered up by the information we are reporting. In a way, it’s almost like the subliminal message installed in your ‘Troopers and officers; when they are around Force Users who know your secret, they can think about it, but when they are around those who don’t know, they don’t think about it. And this is a bit like that; whilst we are around Supreme Leader, we forget about the knowledge we are keeping hidden, so Supreme Leader doesn’t know we are hiding something, but once we leave his presence, we suddenly remember what we are hiding.” Rey glanced behind him, where Captain Finn was standing, and then the two nodded. He didn’t know how he does it, but the captain seemed able to sense when a person was being truthful and when they were lying; he would think that the man was Force-Sensitive, but he gave off no such feeling, whereas Rey had always felt strange.

 

“Just so long as they are not prone to violent outbursts that end in the destruction of important pieces of equipment, then I don’t really care what you do on your play-dates.” Hux then helped Rey stand as she was currently giggling at Kylo’s face as he all but shouted that the Knights of Ren did not do _****play-dates****_! Around a month later, the six official Knights and one apprentice had all arrived aboard _****The Finalizer****_ , with the last, Lokron Ren, arriving only yesterday, and today all of the Knights, bar Kylo, were engaging in a seven-on-one duel, with Rey barely keeping up with so many different styles and different types of sabers, and she was just knocked down by Shakar Ren’s, a giant of a woman with a large tusk protruding from her face above her nose, club saber. She was currently on her knees, trying to catch her breath and come up with a plan when she heard a shriek. She turned and saw BB-9 come charging in, waving around the little Lightsaber Hux and Finn had attached to her, that looked almost identical to Rey’s. At first she thought it was cute, then she realized it was an actual plasma blade and could do real damage, which Tzita Ren (who seemed strangely hostile towards Rey, though everyone else simply smirked at her) just found out as she too was now on the ground, clutching her knee where 9 had just slashed her. 9 then let loose some oil in a large circle around Rey, using her saber to push the others away. Once the other Knights were safely away from her mistress, 9 ignited the oil, causing a ring of fire to separate them.

 

“That droid is positively mad, brother of mine!” Shin Ren, a handsome man with olive skin and a long tail like some sort of primate, laughed to his brother as he looked at the protective ball of metal he had written off as some sort of pet.

 

“Indeed brother; I believe it would take on the Sith masters of old to protect its mistress!” Quinn Ren, almost identical to his brother with the exception of having violet eyes in contrast to his brother’s brown, replied as Flotza and Dyta put out the flames and, assuring the mad little droid they meant her no harm, helped Rey stand and help her sit at one of the benches and Shakar placed some Bacta gel on Tzita’s leg.

 

“Your crazy droid almost took my leg off!” Tzita shouted at Rey, but it was Lokron who responded with,

 

“Perhaps the droid was responding to the move you tried to pull earlier, with that knife you had hidden. Remember, when you tried to hamstring the girl, even though this was supposed to be a Lightsaber only duel.” Everyone knew when Lokron took that tone of voice, you better either scram or apologize, as he had a potentially more frightening temper than Kylo; Kylo was quick and explosive, like dynamite, but Lokron was like nitroglycerin, so long as it was left alone, you were fine, but the minute it was jostled, you were fucked.

 

“Yeah, well, she broke my saber!” Tzita complained, only for Shakar to say,

 

“We all warned you about basing your saber off of the Inquisitor’s old sabers; they simply leave too big of a target for someone to destroy your saber, whereas Rey insulated her saber to prevent such things from happening.”

 

“Did I do something to insult her? Ever since she came on board she’s been rather hostile towards me.” Rey asked Kylo who merely shrugged, even with Lokron giving him a rather pointed look.

 

“What’s the matter desert rat? Can’t take it when someone doesn’t fawn over you?” At this, even Shin and Quinn lost their smiles as they looked at Tzita in shock and Finn was happy for his armband that kept his powers under wraps, or they would have been meeting Karnak’s apprentice rather harshly. He subconsciously took a step forward to defend his friend, but Dyta put a hand on his shoulder, interested to see what Rey would do.

 

“You know, I have been trying to be polite to all Knights of Ren that have come here for some stupid reason or another, seeing as how Kylo and I are trying to get along and the Knights of Ren seem to be the closest thing he has to a family. But all you have done is been rude to me as well as being rude to General Hux, who I remind you did not have to let you on _****his****_  ship. So you have proven that you are a spoiled, miserable, crybaby with no manners as you have not shown one ounce of respect to your host or your Masters, one of which only brought you along as it would have seemed strange to leave you behind, and the other because he thought you were mature enough.” Tzita even tried to tackle Rey at this, only for Rey to grab her arm and toss her over her shoulder. Rey then pinned Tzita to the ground and looked about two minutes from breaking the girl’s arm. Flotza face-palmed at the rashness of her apprentice; Rey was vicious with her lightsaber, and even without her partner, she had flung their Master, Kylo, over her shoulder like he was no more than a sack of flour during more than one training session.

 

“Lady Rey, whilst I understand your frustrations with my apprentice, I must ask that you not break her arm right before a mission Snoke wants us to complete.” Flotza was the oldest, and so knew Snoke best. So, therefore, when she felt Kylo’s raw power when he defeated the previous master and was wise enough to make Lokron his second in command, she knew he was the smart choice to follow.

 

“Especially since she will have to make a new saber since you showed her how useless her design was.” Shakar ribbed what she herself saw as a brat; she had had two apprentices, but she only took those that were mature enough, as she felt being chosen personally for an apprentice gave some of the younglings fatheads. Tzita was Flotza’s third apprentice, and Shakar firmly believed that someone else should have been chosen. Rey nodded and got off of Tzita, with Lokron keeping her pinned and unable to move, if only to make sure Tzita didn’t do anything stupid again. Finn came over and asked,

 

“You OK?”

 

“Finn, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times; take that stupid helmet off when speaking to me.” Rey snapped as Finn quickly removed his helmet, and Rey sighed before saying,

 

“Sorry Finn.”

 

“Hey, no one likes losing, I have long since gotten used to you snapping, as did Drake and Karnak. Just remember what Karnak always says; there are no lessons in victory, but -”

 

“A thousand in defeat. Well, I must have gotten more than a couple by now.” Rey then went to walk out, only for her knee to give out with a cry. Kylo and Finn were quick to catch her, with Quinn and Shin coming over as well.

 

“Are you alright, Little Sister?” Shin asked as Quinn and Finn looked at the knee. Shin and Quinn both had the habit of calling all Force users they liked by some sort of familial relation; they saw Flotza, Shakar, Dyta, and Rey as sisters, Tzita as a niece, Kylo was their brother, and Lokron was their curmudgeonly uncle. The fact that they called Snoke Supreme Leader and nothing else, spoke volumes about how they saw the man.

 

“Yeah, I guess when I tossed Tzita I twisted my knee a little.” Kylo set her back down whilst Finn put some ice on her knee, as well as giving some to Tzita for her arm, to which she grumbled her thanks.

 

“Just keep the ice on it for a few minutes and then we’ll help you get back to your quarters; you should be fine in the morning. Maybe you can get the General to -”

 

“What in the name of Thrawn did you do to my bodyguard Ren?!” Hux stormed into the training room to see his bodyguard/lover holding an ice-pack to her knee.

 

“Well, she kind of did it to herself to be perfectly honest,” Quinn explained for his master and brother, seeing as how he wasn’t even in the fight.

 

“First of all, I was not asking you, Lord Quinn, I was asking your Master, Lord Kylo, who was supposed to be making sure no one got seriously hurt. Secondly, are you trying to infer that my bodyguard is incompetent?!” Quinn suddenly felt about three feet tall, getting yelled at by his papa for letting Shin play with the saber-toothed Clawspins in their backyard as he wildly shook his head.

 

“Hux, what has you in such a mood that you are verbally flaying your quote-unquote ‘favourite’ Knight since he’s the quietest that we’ve seen yet?” Rey asked her possessive lover, who had a very crossed look on his face. Hux then handed her a datapad with a message blinking on it. As Rey read it, certain storage containers started shaking, and the others watched as the datapad broke in her hands.

 

“Since you don’t look any angrier General, sir, either that datapad didn’t hold any vital data, or whatever the message was, with all due respect sir, seems to have you extremely pissed off,” Finn stated as he looked between his best friend and commanding officer.

 

“The Commandant is coming for… a visit.” Finn’s expressions closed off at this, making the Knights of Ren wonder at the circumstances until Kylo mentally translated; Hux’s abusive father was coming to try and degrade his son. He was also the man who came up the original reconditioning program that had turned hundreds, if not almost thousands of men and women into mindless vegetables, and Finn would have been one, if Hux had not essentially said, ‘to hell with you’. These six masters did not like this development at all; they saw their apprentices as their children and whilst they did not coddle them, they despised those who would abuse their own young. Not to mention, after a month of interacting with Rey, Hux, Finn and the others, particularly the Death walkers, they rather liked this group, much more than their own generals.

 

“General, permission to travel to Nar Bo Sholla and acquire a Spor crawler?” Finn calmly asked his commanding officer.

 

“Denied,” Hux replied, though the others got the impression he wanted to grant Finn’s request to retrieve a creature widely sought after by assassins.

 

“Are you sure, sir? It would not take me very long to get there and come back, perhaps Lady Rey could make a pet out of it afterward.” Hux smirked this time as he regarded one of his most trusted men (which, including Finn but excluding Rey, amounted to a grand total of three people on this ship).

 

“Quite sure; I’ll need you to hold Rey back once the Commandant starts opening his mouth,” Hux said as he leaned down to pick up Rey, who added,

 

“Not to mention, once he gets here, you can help me dump him down a garbage chute.” About three cycles later, Commandant Hux boarded _****The Finalizer****_ , and not only were Hux and Finn holding Rey back every time the Commandant insulted either one of them or _****The Finalizer****_  in general, but the Knights of Ren helped as well. They had about one more week before they were ready for their mission, and they were discussing the merits of Rey coming with them when they ended up on the bridge, where the Commandant, General Hux, and Lady Rey were gathered.

 

“You even allow those freaks on board and don’t use any methods to restrain them or track them, instead, you allow them free reign.” The Commandant looked a great deal like Hux, only older, meaner, and more broad in the shoulder, unlike his son who was more compact muscle.

 

“As I already explained, Commandant, Lord Ren is Master of the Knights of Ren as well as being Co-Commander of this vessel, as such, if he feels the desire for his most trusted Knights to join him for a mission, that is his prerogative. The Knights of Ren are also not wild animals, nor are they freaks; they are Force users who are our allies as well as being Supreme Leader’s elite warriors. If you have a problem with them being on a Star Destroyer, perhaps you should take up your concerns with Supreme Leader, when he has the time to talk to you.” Rey refrained from smirking, though those behind the Commandant felt no need to, which had Kylo lightly brushing her mind, asking her what was so funny. Rey replied by informing him that Brendol Hux had been trying to make an appointment with Supreme Leader for going on four years - ever since Armitage Hux brought forth the statistics that the constant reconditioning was actually detrimental to their troops. Snoke had been busy every time Brendol tried to make an appointment, whereas Hux merely had to ask and he was given an appointment.

 

“Don’t take that insolent tone with me, boy! You only got where you are because of me.” Brendol tried to intimidate his bastard son, who should have done whatever was asked of him in a futile attempt to get his father to love him. It would never have worked but it was a way for Brendol to control his son, something that had not been working ever since he acquired his whore that was standing next to him. He had tried setting up a married between the bastard and the daughter of a close friend to get these two separated, only for her to wind up pregnant with someone else’s child.

 

“Actually, you’ll find that I got where I am on my own merits, as well as heeding the advice of those who had sound advice.” Another dig at the Commandant, as Hux had been ignoring his father’s advice in favor of Drake and Karnak’s advice, which was the reason for him being the youngest General of the First Order.

 

“My reconditioning program was a good method for keeping the ‘Troopers loyal until you ruined it!” The Commandant was actually going splotchy in the face as he was losing control of his anger; something Mitaka was privately thankful for Rey having helped Hux keep enough control of his anger that he didn’t go splotchy anymore unless he was really angry. It started something of a saying around _****The Finalizer****_ ; If the General started going splotchy, make for the nearest Sarlacc pit.

 

“Statistics from the reconditioning program; substance abuse: 47%, suicide ideation: 53%, signs of reckless behaviour: 60%, mission success rate: 69%. Statistics from after the reconditioning program was removed: substance abuse: 21% and decreasing, suicide ideation: holding steady at 28%, though fluctuations are noticed when a mission has gone badly and friendships are destroyed, signs of reckless behaviour: 30%, though some still like to ‘show-off’, mission success rate: 84% and rising. As you can see, Commandant, your program was actually detrimental to the First Order, whereas by removing it, the First Order has only benefited.” As Rey gave her statistics, which had all the Knights of Ren smirking beneath their helmets, they saw an ugly sneer appear on the face of the Commandant.

 

“Armitage, tell your whore to keep her mouth shut around me.” Mitaka was thankfully able to keep his mind on his work, though he saw that others dearly wanted to give this man a tour of their waste facilities. The Knights of Ren seemed eager to do as such, and judging by the charged electricity in the air, Kylo Ren wished to lead the charge, er… tour.

 

“Commandant Hux, I will not censor my bodyguard and girlfriend when she is stating simple facts that you do not wish to hear. I will, however, ask that you watch what you say in regards to her status, whilst you are on _****my****_  ship.” Hux appeared outwardly calm, though those closest could see the flush coming up his neck, a flush which worsened when the Commandant backhanded him.

 

“Do you think I don’t know what you are doing?! Do you think I don’t know what you got your whore to do?! Or should I say _****whom****_? How many did she have to take before you got this cushy spot? How many cocks did she have to su- ack!”

 

“Lokron!” The Knights of Ren were all shocked as Lokron moved faster than they had ever seen him and was currently holding the Commandant by his throat, leaving him to dangle in the air. Oh, Lokron had a temper, they all did; Snoke encouraged them to let their anger and hatred fill them at all times, to fully feel the power of the Dark Side. But Lokron often managed to keep his rage confined to the battlefield, and he never physically laid his hands on someone.

 

“You will take back everything you said to General Hux and Lady Rey, this minute.”

 

“That bas-” The Commandant tried to gasp out, only for Lokron to squeeze a little tighter.

 

“He is a bastard because you were too mentally deficient to wear a condom when you raped your serving woman. You also could not conceive anything with that frigid monstrosity you call a wife, so once you found out it was male, you forced the woman to keep the child and bear the shame of what you had done. Then, instead of acting even remotely like a father to your child, you sent him off to boarding schools as soon as he could walk, and he was sent to the academy before he was even thirteen. He always did his best but it was never good enough for you, and then he found the one thing he wanted from you in someone else; love. With the love of Lady Rey, he felt he no longer had any need for your approval and has risen to be the youngest General of the First Order, and I have no doubt he shall soon hold the rank of Admiral. I imagine the reason you are here today is some weak, pathetic bid to try and destroy the General’s self-confidence and re-instigate yourself as the ‘top dog’, I believe is the expression?” Lokron had not relieved his hold for one minute during his speech, and the Commandant was starting to turn blue due to the lack of oxygen, so Rey stepped forward.

 

“Lokron, you should drop him; he is not worth the mess he will make when you snap his neck and I have to call for sanitation.” None of the Knights expected Lokron to listen to her as he only ever listened to Kylo (willingly), and Snoke (begrudgingly). They were therefore shocked when Lokron dropped the Commandant, who start gasping as soon as he hit the floor. He also removed his helmet for the first time, and those who were not Knights were a little disturbed as he had very intense brown eyes, dark brown hair that was showing strands of gray through it, and a rather stern face, though it seemed to lighten a little as he looked at Lady Rey.

 

“When Supreme Leader and High Command hear about this -!”

 

“Nothing shall be done; Supreme Leader has better things to do than listen to a Nothing’s complaints and you have so few friends at High Command, whereas so many love our star General and his ‘charming, well-mannered better half’, that they would simply tell you to get lost. If they would even respond to you at all, as I find it tedious at best to humor Nothings. Because that’s what you are; Nothing. You were born as a nothing because I looked through the old Imperial records, and you barely registered. Your program for the Stormtroopers started out as useful, but because Nothings don’t think long-term, it started the deterioration of many who could have been premier soldiers. Undoubtedly, the only thing worthwhile to your name is General Hux here, whom you always saw as never good enough, when it is you, who is subpar. Lieutenant Mitaka, please comm Captain Finn and Captain Phasma, please have them escort Nothing here off of this ship. I believe it has overstayed its welcome.” A few of the female officers couldn’t help but blush as they listened to Lord Lokron speak without that blasted helmet muffling his voice; it dark, rich, and authoritative. Who cared if he looked old enough to be their father? A few of them would probably be dreaming about him that night; after all, age simply meant experience, didn’t it?

 

“Right away, Lord Ren, er- Lord Lokron,” Mitaka replied, admitting to himself that if he was even remotely gay, he too would be dreaming of Lord Lokron that night.

 

“Now, Lady Rey, my associates wish to speak with you concerning this upcoming mission, but I personally would like to tour your technorganic forest, I believe you call it?” Lokron held out his arm and Hux saw a couple of his more green female officer (and possibly one or two of the men) almost swoon at the gesture. Rey simply smiled before turning to Hux and asking,

 

“Is that alright, Hux?” Hux smiled at his lover and replied,

 

“Of course Rey; there is Nothing here that can hurt me anymore.” Rey nodded, took Lokron’s arm and left with both him and the Knights of Ren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, chapter 5 is now up and holy crap but you people like this! Sorry if you felt this chapter wasn't up to par with the others, I know it is a bit shorter than normal. You see, it was actually supposed to progress a bit more than it did, but then I thought, wait, does this make any sense? And the answer was no, so I tried another route and whilst doing that, I came up with a little plot twist that will help the story in the long run. In the next chapter, if all goes according to plan, expect to see both Rey and Kylo hurt, though not at the same time. If you want a rough idea of what Lokron Ren looks like, I suggest looking up the actor Herbert Lom; an actor who played a great phantom for Hammer. Hope you all save a bundle on Black Friday and if anyone in retail seems a little grouchy when talking to you, please remember that they will most likely have had a number of people get mad at *them*, because their managers did not properly plan ahead for the day which, in the States, I think someone in retail was actually trampled to death.


	6. Abductions and Mutations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey went AWOL for a while, but she was found. Lokron and Flotza are wondering about things. And Snoke has done something horrible to Kylo. What does it all mean?

Disclaimer: If I owned this, do you really think I would have killed off Han Solo of all people?

 

**Chapter 6**

****

Dopheld Mitaka was currently feeling numb as he passed coffee out amongst those gathered around the main conference table. Such a task was beneath his station as a linguistics and code-breaker officer, but Doph felt that if he didn’t do something that felt in any way useful, he was going to go out of his mind. He looked at those assembled; Captains Finn and Phasma seemed to be talking about retrieval strategies with Slip and Seven, no doubt to cover up the fact that Finn was trying to feel Lady Rey with the Force. Thanisson and Unamo were still talking to Tzita Ren, trying to narrow down which species attacked them and where they might have fled to. General Hux was still red in the face from his screaming match with Kylo Ren about whose fault the incident had been, even though Lord Ren had been called to Supreme Leader’s side for some important training. Lord Ren had wished to stay and help, but Lokron, Flotza, Dyta and even General Hux had agreed it would look strange for Ren to show such concern over an ordinary girl whom he should have no connection to. And Lord Lokron at this moment, well…

 

Lokron Ren was at this moment feeling both enraged and melancholic as he held the mask he had made especially for Lady Rey, based in a way off of his own mask; his was made to look like a snakes head, but Rey’s was that of a mixture between a sand cat and a fox. The reason why he was upset was for the same reason he was so angry; whilst on a simple mission to retrieve a Sith artifact, the Knights of Ren and Lady Rey had been ambushed by some sort of species that appeared to be large insects. The Knights of Ren were already rather bushed when this happened since after they retrieved the artifact, which was in fact, Sith Lumiya’s cat o’ nine tails lightwhip, the chamber door had locked behind them. The walls of the temple would have been climbable if they had not been charged with electricity. The others had been talking about using their sabers on the walls to see if they could short-circuit the system when Rey had asked if any of the Knights of Ren were good at throwing knives. They turned to her and saw that her scavenger eyes had indeed found, not exactly a control panel, but something more of a fuse-box. Tzita had been all for slashing it with her saber (which was her old one from her pre-apprenticeship days, but it was better than nothing) but Rey and Dyta had both feared what would happen should plasma and such a thing meet. Instead, Rey held up her small vibroblade and told them how a blade, when combined with electricity would create a small explosion that should destroy the box, but not cause any sort of cave-in. The only problem was that if Rey was holding the blade when it was thrust into the fuse-box, her new nickname would be lefty, seeing as how the explosion would take her hand off.

 

Shin Ren had been all for showing off in front of their newest ‘baby sister’ until Dyta reminded him that the week before, he had injured his throwing arm whilst looking at one of the ship’s cannons. So, Dyta took the blade, they all moved as far away as they could, she threw it, and Rey threw up her bubble as the box exploded as a safety precaution. After that, the group of eight Force users scaled the walls of the temple, with Flotza carefully holding on to the Lightwhip. Not a moment later when Kylo, Rey, and Quinn had all made it to the top and were waiting for the others, they were attacked by pirates who seemed to believe the temple held some kind of treasure. They had fought hard, only for the same sonic weapon that had been used last month to be used again, and then a second weapon had been used to increase the gravity around them, making them unable to move. From there, one of the pirates grabbed Rey, supposedly hoping for some kind of ransom or something, and though Shakar and Lokron fought against the gravity device, they took off with her.

 

That had been thirty-six hours and almost twenty-three minutes ago, and about twelve hours after Rey had been taken, Kylo and most of the Knights of Ren had been called back to Korriban for some special sort of training. However, Supreme Leader was ‘gracious’ enough to leave Lokron, Flotza, and Tzita Ren to aid in the search for Hux’s assassin. Thanisson and Unamo seemed to be able to narrow down the species of the pirates in question, which lead them to this sector on the Outer Rim.

 

“I thought Force Users could feel each other out?” Hux snapped at Flotza who seemed ready to slap him but refrained due to the fact she herself was concerned.

 

“Most of the time we can, but Rey seems to be the exception; unless she is right in front of us, we cannot sense her. She is something I have never heard of; it’s almost like she doesn’t exist within the Force, which would explain why Supreme Leader has yet to sense her.”

 

“What could possibly cause that? I thought even Sith Lords could be sensed with the Force.” Hux asked, neither noticing that Captain Finn had stopped walking with them.

 

“They can, as they still exist within the Force. I’m sorry General, but these aspects of the Force you’d be better off talking to Quinn, Dyta, or Lokron, as they are more the scholars of the Knights of Ren than I am.” Flotza suddenly stopped talking and turned to Captain Finn.

 

“You sensed that as well, didn’t you?” Flotza asked Finn who suddenly grew concerned.

 

“I’m afraid I don’t unders-”

 

“It’s alright Captain; Lokron, Shakar and myself felt you almost as soon as we came on board, but we figured you were hiding because of your light affinity, and due to your obvious loyalty to Lady Rey, we felt there was no need to reveal your secret. There still isn’t, but I must ask if you felt the same thing I just did?” Finn looked at Flotza and, seeing no other choice, used his Force Empathy to get a true feeling of the other user, hoping that he was right in doing this. He sensed the distrust she had for Supreme Leader, the deep loyalty she felt for Kylo Ren (she and Lokron practically raised him after he came to the Knights), and he felt the truth that while she was loyal to Kylo, she would not reveal Finn’s sensitivity. With this knowledge, he responded,

 

“Yes, it almost felt like an explosion within the Force; almost a hundred voices in the Force, suddenly silenced, and I get the feeling Rey was right in the middle of it; I felt her energy just before the explosion.” Finn looked at Hux and saw worry flash across his face before he controlled it and asked,

 

“Do you know where she is, then?”

 

“Yes General, she is on Dakbar, a desert planet that often houses pirates and other less than reputable characters that is just a click away. But we better hurry; whatever the explosion was that allowed us to feel Rey is already dimming, and soon we’ll be scouring the whole planet for someone who spent her childhood hiding in a desert from predators.” That was how Finn, Hux, Flotza, Lokron, Phasma, and The Death Walkers found themselves on a shuttle heading to Dakbar, with the Force users doing everything they could to keep hold of the link that allowed them to sense Rey.

 

“Sir, there seems to be smoke rising in the distance!” The pilot called back to Hux, who hurriedly made his way to the cockpit and saw that yes, there was smoke rising and as they got closer he could just make out some burned-out ruins. He looked back to Finn, who nodded; the link was leading them there.

 

“Land close to those ruins; something tells me Lady Rey had a hand in its destruction.” The pilot nodded before nodding to his co-pilot about getting ready to land. As they landed, sadly, the link finally gave out and the Force users could no longer sense Rey, though judging by the state of the ruins, she couldn’t have gone very far. Phasma looked with the other ‘Troopers, and soon saw something that gave her great hope.

 

“Sir, there are tracks over here!” Hux wanted to follow the Tracks himself but felt it best if he and some of the others stayed and continued to examine the ruins to see if they could understand what happened and so ordered Finn and the other ‘Troopers to follow the tracks whilst he and the other users continued their examination.

 

“What do you think happened, Lokron?” Flotza asked as she looked at the ruins and bodies that looked like they had been torn apart.

 

“I don’t know; with all of this sand that has been thrown over the ruins, it would suggest a sandstorm but to completely demolish an establishment like this it would have to have been extremely powerful. Over there, it would seem like their generator exploded, and it’s an old gas model, so any kind of puncture would have set it off, though it should be been reinforced to handle sandstorms.” Hux then looked at a grouping of some bodies and saw something the storm could not have done.

 

“Rey must have killed these ones; some of their throats are crushed whilst some appear to have been torn out, she does that when she is particularly frightened.” Lokron came over and he agreed; these bodies looked like some force had torn them apart and though she had held back during their brawl, Lokron would bet his lightsaber she had done this in a moment of terror and probably great anger. He couldn’t blame her either; he had seen some of the other bodies that the sandstorm had mercifully killed rather quickly; if he had to guess, he would say this place had been a brothel.

 

“What I don’t understand is how she could have done it? They were ready for us; surely they would not have taken the chance that someone who was travelling with us was not Force-sensitive?” He and Hux looked at each other before Hux replied,

 

“Rey is quite strong physically; if she is backed into a corner, she becomes even stronger due to adrenaline, and she becomes almost feral; she will kick, hit, bite, and claw at whatever she can reach on your body.”

 

“I don’t think so, General; look at those bodies, they were clearly trying to escape from whatever killed their cohorts. Lady Rey may be strong, but could she handle so many without aid from the Force?” Hux knew he meant to help, but he couldn’t withhold his sneer at the question.

 

“Rey once took on seven ‘Troopers during one of her training regiments; the Knights of Ren may depend on the Force for their fighting, but Rey can fight without it, and she does not allow trivial things like odds and numbers deter her from her goal; if she was trying to escape, she would find a way to do it.”

 

“Whilst I do agree Rey is powerful even without the Force, there are still a couple of loopholes there General; first of all, those tracks your men spotted, if Rey made her escape before the storm hit, then the tracks would have disappeared with the storm. Secondly, the ones who were killed were of an arthropod species, meaning their skeletons were on the outside and Rey would have had a hard time crushing or tearing their throats without some kind of weapon. True, she could have found something but then that wouldn’t match up with these wounds, which show no signs of being slashed or choked with say a chain; they were simply crushed or torn out. Finally, this drug I found in the wreckage suggests that Rey was physically unable to fight back.” Flotza explained as she held up a small bottle labeled ‘Minuere-Succinylcholine’.

 

“I am not familiar with this drug,” Hux said as he examined the bottle.

 

“You would have no need to be; Succinylcholine or SUX for short is an extremely powerful neuromuscular paralytic drug. Your medics would have no need for it as it paralyzes all the muscles in the body, including the ones needed for breathing; without ventilatory support, the recipients die of asphyxiation. And the worse news is the victim is awake for it since SUX causes muscular paralysis but has no sedative effects.”

 

“You think Rey was-!”

 

“Easy, Hux; SUX itself is too powerful to be given to people kidnapped in hopes of ransom or other purposes, but what we have here is a weaker version; you are still trapped in your own body, and awake for whatever happens to you, but you can breathe under your own power. Now, it’s possible that it could have worn off and Rey was able to make her escape, but I doubt it. Now, what could have happened is that the collar they most likely put on Rey was an old Sith relic used to suppress Jedi; the Jedi would feel immense pain if they attempted to use the Force with it on and therefore would be unable to concentrate long enough to use the Force. Remember, after all, that whilst the Sith would use their emotions to fuel their powers, the Jedi would use mental concentration to wield their powers, and without that concentration, only a Jedi Master could properly use any of their powers. Now, Rey is a Grey Jedi who is able to use Dark Side techniques, and what people don’t realize is that since the Sith used things like pain to fuel their power, the collars virtually had no effect on them.”

 

“So you think the collar was useless on Rey?”

 

“Well, not right away, after all her use of the Force lies in a balance between the Light and the Dark, so the collar still would have hurt her and caused problems, but not for long, and as you said she has a very high tolerance for pain so once she got… used to it, let’s say, then yes; the collar would become useless, especially if she was scared or angry enough which, if some species locked my mind within my body, then made sexual advances toward me, I would be sufficiently pissed off enough to overcome such a collar.” Flotza commented before Hux mentally heard / **General Hux?** /

 

“One moment, it’s Captain Finn; he might have found her.” / **Yes, Finn?** /

 

/ **We found Rey, sir, but there’s a slight problem.** / Hux felt his blood run cold as he asked / **Is she hurt? Is she being held captive? Is she-?** /

 

/ **GENERAL! Sorry to shout sir, but though she has some minor scrapes and bruises, she does not appear to be in any sort of mortal danger; she is merely unconscious. As for being held captive? Well… yes in a way, but not in the sense you are thinking of.** /

 

/ **Captain, you will either start talking straight or so help me, you will be a sanitation officer for the next YEAR!** /

 

/ **Honestly, sir, it would be best if you came to us and saw our dilemma; just follow our tracks.** / And that was how Hux and Lokron found themselves following the tracks of the ‘Troopers to where Rey was. Flotza had offered to come with them, but Lokron thought this a bad idea since if the wind picked up, the tracks could be lost and them with it. So Lokron told Flotza to stay with the ship; this way, if the tracks did vanish, he could use their link to find her and the ship. When they arrived, it was to the strangest sight; the Death Walkers were generally lounging about, with Phasma and Finn seemingly trying to reason with some strange looking animal who was alternatively growling at them or nuzzling Rey. Rey had apparently found some sort of coverage to hide in until they could find her; there were large rocks all around that would over her sufficient coverage from the sun until it went down, and the rock she currently ‘slept’ under seemed to lead to a sort of burrow; not very deep but deep enough to keep curled up in at night. There was even water and food around as there were trees around the area and unless Hux was mistaken, not being the botanist Rey and Mitaka (to an extent) were, they were the kind of tree that stored moisture from when it rained inside of them for periods of drought and at the top there appeared to be coconut-like fruit. However, the bigger concern at the moment was not how she had found her little oasis, but the predator currently standing guard over her and not allowing his ‘Troopers to get close.

 

“Ah! A Lizox; rare for this planet.” Lokron stated as he looked at the strange looking animal that at first glance, appeared to be a rather bushy fox.

 

“A most intriguing creature; they look like slightly larger than average desert foxes, though their fur can sharpen into poisonous, spiky tips when angered it also has a layer of skin which attaches front paws to back paws and can use them to glide for short distances. The story goes they were created when someone wished to make an animal that had the adaptability of a fox with the durability of a lizard.”

 

“Fascinating, Lord Lokron, but why is it acting like Rey is one of its kits?” Phasma asked as the thing again snapped at her; they had tried scaring it off with blaster fire, but the things fur merely sharpened like Lokron said and snarled.

 

“Well, there is a rumor that gets mentioned from time to time, saying that something about a Lizox’s genetic makeup makes them able to feel Force users and act rather friendly towards them; apparently it helps strengthen _**their**_ connection to the Force. They can’t wield it like a Force user, obviously, but there has been scuttlebutt floating around that Lizox that breed with a User around, have a higher chance of procreating, having large litters and the young have a higher chance of making it to adulthood.”

 

“Then why is the thing snapping at _**me**_?” Finn asked as the animal almost bit his leg, again.

 

“Two, possibly three reasons; one, you have your face hidden, and a Lizox will never trust someone whose face it cannot see. Two, you still have your Force signature slightly hidden so _**she**_ simply cannot feel you. And three; this kit is the only surviving member of its litter, I can sense her pain at the loss of family within the Force, and she thinks Rey is another kit who needs protecting. She doesn’t understand why Rey looks so different from her, but I think the pain and loneliness have her so desperate for some kind of companionship, she just doesn’t care. I would recommend General Hux trying his luck.” Lokron explained, hoping to get this over with and Rey back to _**The Finalizer**_ ; she could have internal injuries they couldn’t see.

 

“Me? I am not Force-sensitive.” Hux rebuked.

 

“No, but you have similar pheromones since the two of you are mates and I imagine you fornicated not long before she left with us so, though faint, the kit should still smell the connection.” Hux wished he could blame the sun for his sudden blush but since he couldn’t, he went over to the Lizox and tried to get his mate back.

 

“Careful, General; the Lizox is said to have a tongue that can shoot out suddenly and without warning, and the tongue is said to be coated in a powerful poison that can affect your blood.” Hux glared at Lokron before making sure the animal did not see him as a threat. The animal didn’t growl at him, though it-she did seem to look at him wearily as he knelt. He took his glove off and held it out to the animal, allowing it get his smell and attach it to the one that lingered on Rey’s skin. He was actually glad he came **_on_** Rey and not ** _in_**  her; he had been feeling mildly possessive and was not thrilled over the idea of her going on a mission with four reasonably attractive males without him along, it was bad enough when she went on missions with Finn and Seven. At least he didn’t have to truly worry about Seven or even Phasma, seeing as how Rey apparently was not all that into blondes, though he did notice that, apart from redheads, she did seem to like brunettes. The Lizox sniffed his wrist and the creature stiffened before leaning down to sniff at Rey’s neck; Hux could almost imagine the creature saying ‘these two have similar scents but they are not pack-mates; they must be…’. The animal seemed to make the connection as she suddenly looked despondent and moved away from Rey, understanding that her mate had come to take her back to their den. Hux leaned down and picked Rey up, holding back his anger when she lightly flinched, but before he gave the command to head back to the ship, he looked at the Lizox. He had a feeling he was going to regret this, but he turned to Lokron and asked,

 

“How do Lizox’s handle being on a starship?” Lokron looked shocked at the question but the animal in question seemed to understand him as it suddenly cuddled up next to him.

 

**_Back on The Finalizer_ **

 

“I see no reason for concern, General; she has several bruises and slight lacerations, she hasn’t eaten since she left here almost three days ago, and the worst thing I have to report is a mild form of dehydration. Had those coconuts been a bit riper, she could have gotten quite a lot water from them, but she made do with what she had.” Dr Kando reported to his commanding officer as two medical droids made sure Rey was comfortable, her IVs properly hooked up, etc.

 

“But she was barely gone for two days?” Hux asked, confused until Kando elaborated.

 

“It’s been two days for us, General, but the days go by much faster on Dakbar, so for her, she has been gone for three, almost four days.” Hux nodded at the explanation, then swallowed and asked the question he had been fearing.

 

“Was she-?”

 

“No signs of sexual trauma; it appears the farthest they got was groping her breasts and biting her neck, judging by the marks on her neck. After that, Lady Rey seemed to fight back with those powers of hers. She should wake up in a few hours, now I am ordering you to bed rest.”

 

“I would prefer to be here when she awakens,” Hux replied.

 

“You can use one of our beds if you wish, but you are going to get some sleep; you haven’t slept since she was taken and I am not going to be scolded by a woman half my size simply because you are too stubborn to take a sleeping aid.” Kando left before Hux could bust him down to bed-pan cleaner. Not that he’d be doing it; he was second only to Dr Yoccm, who had been his mentor, both in medicine and his bedside manner. Hux knew he had no choice as he too would be reamed out by Rey for not even napping or eating anything while she was… away. So he and BB-9 pulled the privacy screen around the bed (Millicent and the Lizox were curled up in a chair by the bed), and he removed most of his clothes before laying next to Rey. He was awoken a few hours later when he heard,

 

“Taka, stop pulling on Millie’s tail; she has a different one than you do and pulling on it won’t change it.” Hux opened his eyes and saw the Lizox did indeed have Millie’s tale in her mouth and seemed to be pulling on it. He looked over and realized Rey was subtly trying to get the Lizox to open her mouth and release Millie’s tail without snapping the poor creature’s jaw.

 

“Children, stop fighting and let mom and dad sleep, alright?” Hux asked as he tightened his grip on Rey’s stomach.

 

“You must be sleep deprived if one, you’re mumbling, and two, you are referring to us as parents,” Rey said as she ran her fingers through Hux’s hair.

 

“Well, technically speaking, Millie, BB and… Taka, you called her?, are your kids; I am the step-father who married into this family.” His lips against her stomach made her giggle as he talked.

 

“Well, try to wake up, kiddo, ‘cause the in-laws are here and would like to talk to their kid.” Flotza arrived with Lokron, Phasma, and Finn, the latter coming and both giving Rey quick hugs whilst Doph, who seemed to have the knack of popping up where he was least expected down to an art, gave Hux a coffee and Rey a hot chocolate.

 

“Bless you Mitaka,” Hux mumbled as he sipped his perfectly made coffee; no doubt between Rey and Mitaka, he was going to be taking a couple days off to get back to his usual self.

 

“Hopefully, sir,” Mitaka replied as he gave Rey his own hug; Rey just somehow had a way of becoming people’s little sister that they wanted to protect.

 

“Now, Rey, we were hoping you could tell us what happened,” Lokron asked, making Hux wonder, why? They knew what happened. Rey looked away and said,

 

“After they grabbed me and put me on their ship, they snapped a Force-suppressant collar around my neck, but it was different than the one Karnak and Drake gave us; this one looked old and I could still feel the Force, but whenever I tried to use it, I would get a powerful shock. I managed to attack two of them, but another grabbed me and injected me with something that made all my muscles seize up. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move and as I continued to try and use the Force, I kept being electrocuted, even when I tried mentally calling out for Hux or Finn.”

 

“That fits what we figured from what we found; what happened after you landed?” Flotza asked, keeping her voice gentle. Rey had a thoughtful look on her face before answering,

 

“When we landed, I was dragged into a room, but I could see where they had taken me was some kind of brothel and judging from what I heard, they planned on making some money off of me seeing as how there was no treasure at the temple. One of them started tearing my clothes off and… and that’s where it gets fuzzy.” Rey said, leaning into Hux whilst holding Finn’s hand, and Phasma looked like she wanted to hunt down the rest of the wretched species that tried to hurt her sister… sister? Where had that thought come from? She had always tried to stop herself from falling so far under Rey’s spell, trying to be something of the firm parent who had to be firm to keep Rey from getting badly hurt, especially as Hux had devolved into the boyfriend who would tear open stars just so she could have something pretty for her mantle. Apparently, she had not been as successful as she had thought she had.

 

“Fuzzy? How?” Lokron asked, hoping he was wrong.

 

“Well, as they were tearing my clothes off, I could feel my fear slipping away and anger was taking its place. No, that’s not right; it wasn’t anger… it was rage. Some part of me started to feel pure rage at what was happening, not only to me but to the others who had been forced into those places, it was almost like I could feel their pain, their anger, their humiliation as their pride was stripped away from them by the most revolting of acts. Then, my Force abilities managed to somehow break through the collar and the pain I received only fueled my rage and I watched as their throats were torn out or crushed, some so badly their heads practically came off. But I wasn’t satisfied with their deaths, I wanted them all to hurt; all of those who had been to these… _**cesspits**_  and done nothing to help these people, and had instead hurt them, reveled in their pain and disgrace! I could feel the rage boiling until finally, I blacked out and when I came to again, the brothel had been destroyed, seemingly by a tremendously powerful sandstorm, and everyone was dead. Knowing that staying there was probably a bad idea in case more of them arrived before you did, I gathered up what supplies I could, and started to walk away from the compound before collapsing again, this time from pure exhaustion. When I came to, I was in that glade with the rocks you found me in, with Taka there standing guard over me. From there, we waited for you to arrive, though I must have passed out again before you all arrived.”

 

“Rey, this… sandstorm you saw, was it like the ones on Jakku?” Lokron asked and many of the others were confused; weren’t all sandstorms the same?

 

“That was the odd thing; just before I blacked out and the storm hit there was a weird blue glow coming in through the windows and the air smelled different, almost like ozone.”

 

“Like it did after we all had our little brawl with our lightsabers?” Rey nodded at Lokron’s strange question, missing the look Lokron exchanged with Flotza. Mitaka then asked a question that he hoped was wrong,

 

“Why did you name a _**female**_  Lizox, Taka?” Rey looked at him and simply responded,

 

“She reminded me of you.” Mitaka then blushed and tried to hide his face as Finn and Phasma tried not to outright laugh at such a comment.

 

“Well, we are all very relieved you destroyed those bastards before they could hurt you any worse than what happened. Now, Lokron, Tzita and I must all be going but before we go, General, Finn, I think I should leave with you a couple tips in case Rey has any nightmares or anything concerning this unpleasant episode.” Rey groaned at the idea of nightmares; she had once woke up screaming whilst Hux was tending to things in his office and BB-9, in an effort to protect her mistress, had locked-down their quarters. Hux was unable to get into his quarters to help her calm down, but Slip and Mitaka managed to find their way in through the laundry shaft (a shaft that was now monitored as Hux had no desire to go down in history as the general whose assassin got in through the bloody laundry shaft) and calm her down. Hux stood up and got into a robe before he and Finn followed the two Knights away from Rey.

 

“What is on your mind, Lokron? Why did you make her talk about it?” Hux asked as soon as they were out of earshot; Rey once told him that when she used the Force to enhance her hearing, she could literally hear not only the conversations of everyone on _**The Endeavor**_  but their heartbeats as well. For a girl who had grown so accustomed to the silence of the desert that sometimes the hustle and bustle of the mess hall became too much; she had Force screamed so loudly, Karnak had been forced to sedate her as everyone on the ship heard her.

 

“Whilst you two slept I studied the geography and the meteorology of Dakbar because some things were just not adding up and I found out that my instincts were correct,” Lokron explained.

 

“Meaning what, exactly?” Hux asked, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep wrapped around his girlfriend.

 

“Hux, Dakbar has gotten sandstorms before, but they seldom are in the area where Rey was kept and never to the intensity needed for the base’s destruction. And that little oasis Rey found? It did not exist on our maps twenty-four of our hours ago.”

 

“What are you saying?” Finn asked, not liking where this was going.

 

“Rey did it all; she created the sandstorm, though, by her description, it would appear it was gearing up to be something worse, something far more powerful but something in her stopped it from reaching those levels. Then, when she came to and left the area, the Force again responded to her needs and gave her someplace to stay safe and wait for us to rescue her. I checked the botany of that planet; those trees had no right being there; they can’t survive for long in such a climate, and I would bet my lightsaber that if we went back there, those trees would be dead, because Rey is no longer there, feeding her power into them. By the Sith, the Force probably drew the Lizox to Rey so that she would have some company whilst waiting for us to rescue her.”

 

“But that doesn’t make any sense, Lokron; Rey is powerful, but we have never seen her do anything even remotely similar as to what you are describing with the sandstorm!” Finn argued.

 

“Because at the time, she didn’t have the power to do so; between the last time she was actively able to use her Force powers with Drake and Karnak, to now, she has killed a lot of people,” Lokron explained, confusing the other two, though Flotza looked ill at the implications her comrade was making.

 

“What does that have to do with anything? I’ve killed a lot of people between then and now, and I couldn’t summon something like that at my most desperate.” Finn asked, not understanding what was going on.

 

“I imagine you have, but your Force abilities are different from Rey’s, for a very good reason. I can’t tell you my speculations until I have more information, but from what I’ve seen these past two weeks, we have to keep Rey safe from Snoke, or he will destroy her mind, use her power until she can’t go on, and then discard her like a broken doll. I cannot allow that to happen, I will not allow it…” Even Flotza did not understand where this desire (dare she say, obsession?) to protect a girl he only met two weeks ago came from. But Lokron was second only to Kylo when it came to the Knights of Ren (despite what some other individuals thought), so if he wanted to do something like protecting someone he barely knew, it wasn’t her place to ask, especially as she sensed no romantic inclinations, more platonic.

 

“So, what are you going to do then?” Hux asked, not sure who he should be more worried about in this moment.

 

“Rendezvous with Generals Drake and Karnak; last I heard they were heading to Mustafar to meet up with Drake’s father and talk genetics. Flotza and Tzita will head back to Korriban and try to keep an eye on Kylo; I don’t like how Snoke has been talking about him and Rey.”

 

“What about Rey?” Hux asked sharply, hoping they had not been discovered.

 

“Kylo has compassion for her, sees her as a treasured friend, someone he would kill to keep safe; Snoke fears this connection could draw Kylo away from him; not necessarily to the Light, as Rey herself does not dwell there, but away from the darkest parts of the Dark side, almost like a Dark Grey, as opposed to the Light Grey you inhabit, Finn.”

 

“Do you think he would send someone to kill her?” Hux asked, already thinking of moving Rey to their quarters, with only the most trusted being allowed around her.

 

“Not right away; Vader turned from Palpatine because of his love for Padme and for Luke, when Luke was being tortured what was left of Anakin broke through his suffering to save his and Padme’s son. Snoke could fear the same thing, that if Rey was to suddenly be killed so soon after Kylo declared her his friend, the small remnants of who he was before, could break through and destroy Snoke.”

 

“You know who he was before he became Kylo Ren?” Hux asked, curious.

 

“I do, but it is not my story to tell. Now, I must be going, as it feels as though time is slipping from my grasp and we do not have much to play with as is.”

 

“What do you mean?” Finn asked.

 

“Tell me, General Hux, Captain Finn, do you not find it strange that Salas junior, who never before showed much in the way of ambition or cunning, could have orchestrated such an attack as what happened last month? That four Generals, who previously only held a mild dislike for you, General, would suddenly turn to possible treason, putting not only the First Order’s flagship at risk but also the best of its people? Or, that pirates would attack a Sith temple, looking for treasure, at the same time as The Knights of Ren just so _**happen**_  to be there?” Finn looked sick and Hux’s eyes turned steely at the accusation.

 

“Are you saying that Snoke-”

 

“I do not know what is going on, but a Force user is not allowed the luxury of believing in coincidences. Hopefully, the next time we meet, I will have more to share with you, and it will be before the next attack, which seems to be happening with greater frequency, comes.” Lokron then donned his helmet and left. Flotza gave Hux a simple tonic to give Rey in case she did have nightmares with the warning that if he gave her more than three drops, she would sleep the clock ‘round, and he would then have to deal with a hyper lover whilst he was trying to sleep. She then found Tzita, who had been talking to Thanisson, and they made their way to their own shuttle, hoping to reach Kylo and warn him of what Snoke may do to ensure Kylo remained on the Dark Side.

 

**_Meanwhile, On Korriban_ **

 

Kylo was doing his best not to scream as the Nightsisters worked their arcane magic on him, changing him into something else. He had been leery of doing this, worried about how he would be altered, but Snoke had told him in no uncertain terms that unless he did this, a new, stronger Master of the Knights of Ren would need to be chosen. He had worked so hard to become the Master, he couldn’t let it be taken away from him, especially as that would mean he would be separated from Hux and Rey, and the two would have to go back to hiding her powers, for he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt Snoke would never make Lokron the Master; there was always some deep hatred going on between the two.

 

He almost bit his tongue off when it felt like his back was being ripped open, but he refused to scream in front of those who had always tried to make him feel small and weak when he knew he was better than them. It felt like something was swirling around where the skin had been ripped, something long, thin, and slimy was making its home in his back, and slithering out to all points in his body. He squirmed a little when he even felt one of the things reach his cock. He knew that the Knights who were loyal to him were keeping an eye on the others, to make sure they didn’t take advantage of his weakened state, but he could feel his mind slipping as finally the pain reached a crescendo and he blacked out. As he blacked out though, he heard a voice speak to him, a voice he had never heard before.

 

“ ** _Ben… Ben, can you hear me?_** ”

 

“My name is Kylo Ren, who are you?”

 

“ _ **Ben, don’t you know me? Haven’t you always tried talking to me?**_ ”

 

“Grandfather?”

 

“ _ **Yes, Ben, I have been trying to talk to you for many years but could never get through, until now. The one who has been blocking us thinks the ritual has separated you from the Force, making it so you still have your powers, but are unable to reach anyone through the Force.**_ ”

 

“But why were you being blocked?”

 

“ _ **Because if I hadn’t of been blocked, I would have told you to go to your mother or uncle about Snoke being the voice in your head, told you to make them listen. Snoke wants you to make the same mistakes I made, but there is something even he can’t stop.**_ ”

 

“What, grandfather?”

 

“ _ **Your love of both Hux and Rey; with those two with you, YOU can rule the Galaxy, as your mother, uncle and I should have done.**_ ”

 

“But grandfather, they care only for each other.”

 

“ _ **They care for you as well my grandson but were unable to admit their attraction before the girl was taken by those pirates. As a Dark Side user, you are naturally drawn to power and those with said power; who in the First Order is truly more powerful than General Hux? A man whose innovations have made the First Order more than a mere ‘terrorist nuisance’, as the New Republic once called them. If not General Hux, then surely his Scavenger bodyguard, who looks so plain but has a sharp mind and can charm even the most belligerent politicians. And they likewise are drawn to power and so few have the kind of raw, untamed power a Skywalker has. You three could bring the galaxy to heel if you all combined your powers, but they are in grave danger.**_ ”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“ ** _Snoke has learned of your attraction to the General and his bodyguard and wishes to destroy it before it can come to fruition, how he will do that I do not know, but you must create a Force Bond before it is too late!_** ”

 

“But to create a Force Bond strong enough that Snoke would fear damaging me while I still have my uses, we would need to-”

 

“ ** _Yes, my grandson, you will need to fornicate with them, and there is no time for a long courtship._** ”

 

“But… but grandfather, that would be rape!”

 

“ ** _Bond with the girl first; once you have her affection, General Hux will surrender._** ” Kylo could feel the strange mists leave his mind at this as he tried to talk and argue with the insanity of what his grandfather was proposing. When the last of the mists cleared, he found himself surrounded by his Knights, as well as Tula Ren, one of those who was ‘on the fence’ as to who deserved the greater respect.

 

“How are you feeling, Lord Kylo?” Tula asked, looking into his eyes so that she wouldn’t see the… _**things**_  Lord Snoke had done to him.

 

“What did he do to me?” Kylo asked, worried about how he had been altered.

 

“I suggest Brother Quinn and Brother Shin help you stand and look in the mirror. I also suggest you brace yourself, Lord Kylo.” Shin and Quinn each took an arm and helped him stand, then walked him over to the floor. What he saw made much of the glass in the room shatter as he realized what had been done to him; coming up from behind his back were things that looked like vines or tentacles. Some were thin, some thick, some tapered off to a thin point, some were blunt, a couple of them were without tips, and looked like they had been hollowed out. As his anger grew, the tentacles from his back thrashed about wildly, as if responding to his anger, and one accidentally hit Shakar, knocking her to the ground. When the others saw this, they were shocked; Shakar was a powerful woman, and very difficult to knock down; if a boulder came flying at her, she would sooner meet it head on than run away.

 

“Shakar! Are you alright?” Dyta asked as she rushed over to help her sister.

 

“I… I think so, but I feel so much weaker for some reason.” That was when Dyta looked down and saw a shiny, black smear on her robes. She went to examine it when it suddenly moved off of Shakar and went sliding back to Kylo. Kylo’s eyes shined for a minute before he said,

 

“I suddenly feel stronger than I was a minute ago.”

 

“It would appear that those odd… tentacles, for lack of a better term, can be used for offensive capabilities, but it’s too soon to say if they have true defensive capabilities. What we can say is that the tentacles exude some kind of… slime, that can draw energy out of things and bring it back to you Master Kylo.” Dyta explained, though Kylo still looked pensive.

 

“Brother?” Shin asked.

 

“Whilst I was unconscious, I found out something I need to do in order to free us from Snoke, though the path I need to get there is rather… distasteful.”

 

“Is there anything we can do?” Quinn asked.

 

“Did Rey strike you as someone who enjoyed cold temperatures?” The others were confused by this question, but Shakar answered,

 

“Not particularly; being from a desert planet, I think she prefers the heat, especially since I joined her in her quarters once whilst we were aboard **_The Finalizer_** and she keeps them very warm. She likes snow, but greatly dislikes extreme cold.”

 

“Then I will need your assistance in locating a planet like that where I can… meet with Rey privately. I will explain whilst we search.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for taking so long with this chapter, as well as the quality of the latter half; I’ve been busy with work, my mom was pretty much forced into retirement for health reasons so I’ve been spending my days off with her trying to cheer her up the only way I know how; watching movies. As for the quality in the bit with Kylo and his grandfather, I tried three different ways of writing it but it would simply not flow like it was supposed to. But I couldn’t simply scrap that section as it is the set-up for the next, and hopefully next chapter. I am also working on a couple of stories that may amount to something or they could simply just be something to try and get the creative juices flowing for this story.
> 
> I couldn’t resist throwing a Star Trek reference into a Star Wars fandom; for those who don’t understand, Yoccm is McCoy, the oh so lovable, curmudgeonly doctor of the USS Enterprise, spelled backward. Also, SUX is an actual drug that is often used as one the three components to the chemical cocktail they give to inmates for lethal injection. I simply made up this version of it for my own purposes; minuere means ‘weak’ or ‘weaken’ in Latin. Here’s wishing you all a happy Family Day, Happy President’s Day, and for those who don’t have a holiday today or this month, just have a fun filled day, even if it is a Monday :)

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone actually liked this enough to want more chapters, don't expect frequent updates; it took me over a month to get this all together and I'm having trouble figuring out how to get from point A to point D. Next chapter will show some of Rey's training (maybe), Hux all but seducing Rey as he teaches her about sex, and maybe Kylo Ren. Oh, and if the grammar seems weird, my grammar checker is grammarly DOT com, so take it up with them.


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